Stand up and be
counted with Trinity’s
volunteer societies
NEWS FEATURE 8

SILLY SCIENCE
The research
that should have
been forgotten

SCIENCE 19

www.trinitynews.ie

Issue 6, Volume 55

Leaked email questions Stokes’ power
» Stokes attempts to discipline Piranha! editor
» Leaked legal advice states ‘the Junior Dean
does not have a role in dealing’ with editors
By Deirdre Robertson
& Jessica Ryan
DOCUMENTS OBTAINED by Trinity
News have revealed that Junior Dean
Emma Stokes acted against legal advice
in attempting to discipline Andrew
Booth, editor of Piranha!, regarding the
content of the magazine.
Dr Emma Stokes summoned the
editor of satirical magazine, Piranha!,

following the publication of an article
that included a map of the best places
to commit a massacre in Trinity. Editor
Andrew Booth was called to the Junior
Dean’s office to answer claims that he
had breached rules 1a and 4a of the
College and Conduct Regulations.
An email written by Dr. Stokes
has now emerged revealing that Dr
Stokes was knowingly acting outside
her jurisdiction as Junior Dean in

Bonuses under
investigation

attempting to discipline Booth. In the
email, Dr Stokes noted that her role as
Junior Dean did not include the power
to discipline editors for the content of
student publications.
The College Regulations outline
disciplinary offences against the college.
1a relates specifically to “activity which
brings the College into disrepute” while
4a notes the Junior Dean’s power to
judge “conduct which does, or is liable
to cause, violence to person or damage
to property.” However, her power in
this matter does not extend to the
decisions made by an editor of a student
publication.
This information came to light in a
series of emails between Dr Stokes and

Junior Dean, Dr Emma Stokes

former editor of Trinity News, Gearoid
O’Rourke, in 2007. Dr Stokes had
attempted to discipline O’Rourke for
publishing a letter that criticised staff
members of the Trinity sports centre.
Following a lengthy exchange of emails,
O’Rourke received an email from Dr
Stokes stating “Following a request for
legal advice, I understand that, under
current arrangements, the Office of
the Junior Dean does not have a role in
dealing with what you, as Editor, allow
to be published in Trinity News.”
Dr. Stokes referred Trinity News
to the Communications Office when
pressed for clarification on the future
of the investigation into Piranha! in the
light of the information revealed in this

By Deirdre Robertson
College News Editor
CENTRAL SOCIETIES Committee
appeared to breach their own rules
on alcohol promotion in an email
advertisment sent out to societies last
week.
An email sent to all college societies
from a CSC Administrative Officer on
7th January, advertised ‘Heat at Tripod’,
a student club night that offers “more 2e
Drinks than ever”. The email advertising
the Tripod event had no source other
than the CSC Administrative Officer’s

Education Authority (HEA) said that a
number of allowances given to university
staff were unauthorised and that it had
sought clarity on the issue from Trinity
and other universities.
Fourteen members of Trinity’s
staff including eight professors are
listed. Professor John Boland from the
Department of Chemistry was paid
€123,008 in ‘additional allowances’
on top of his salary of €143,394. This
bonus payment, amounting to 85%
of his salary level, takes his total

“I never received
this email...it
could not have
come from CSC”
Joe O’Gorman

“Our education
system cannot
afford these
hugely expensive
individuals” IFUT
remuneration €115,000 over the
maximum recommended salary level to
university academics. The other Trinity
academics being paid in excess of the
Review Body’s recommended levels are
Professor Igor Shvets, Professor John
Coey and Professor John Bethica of
the Department of Physics, Professor
Kenneth Wolfe and Professor Seamus
Martin of the Department of Genetics,
and Professor Kinston Mills of the
Dpartement of Chemistry.
The College Treasurer, College
Secretary and Senior Lecturer also

Photo: Caroline O’Leary

TRINITY COLLEGE has been called
for investigation by an emergency
Oireachtas committee over “secretive”
bonus payments and perks paid to
Trinity’s elite administrative and academic staff. The information emerged
through the Freedom of Information
Act following a recent investigation by
the Sunday Independent. The earnings of
some fourteen members of Trinity’s top
staff - including Provost John Hegarty
- are potentially subject to the investigation. The high earnings have been
condemned as “hypocritical” and “hard
to comprehend” by the Irish Federation
of University Teachers (IFUT) and government officials in light of pleas by
Trinity’s senior staff for increased funding in the difficult economic climate.
Trinity News obtained information
released by the Staff Office noting that
Trinity’s high-earning academic staff
receive bonus payments and perks
which bring their pay levels outside
normal pay grade structures. In many
cases the total pay received by them is
in excess of recommended pay levels
established by the government’s Review
Body for Higher Remuneration in
January 2007. It appears that the effect
of these recommended salary caps are
being avoided through the payment of
bonuses. A spokesman for the Higher

continued on page 2

Flyers at dawn: O’Riordan vs. Halls JCR
By Brian Barry
A RIFT has broken out between
Trinity Hall Entertainments Officer
Amy Dunne and events promoter Ed
O’Riordan over “underhand” flyering
of O’Riordan’s Citibar Tuesday nights.
Ex-Student’s Union Ents Officer
O’Riordan was locked into Trinity Hall
by security at Ms. Dunne’s request while
he tried to get out of the complex after
flyering for the Law Society welcome
back party held at Citi Bar. As a result
of the altercation, the Trinity Hall Ents
team have pulled out of supporting Rag
Week’s ‘Thai Beach Party’ to be held in
Citi Bar - a charity event to raise money
for Trinity Cancer Society organised
by the Student Union Ents team and

email. However, they did not wish to
add any further comment.
Responding to Dr Stokes’ recent
actions against Piranha!, O’Rourke
commented “It is quite clear that the
Junior Dean accepts that she has no
jurisdiction over what a student editor
can print, which make her moves against
Piranha! highly improper.”
Although the Communications
Office informed Trinity News that
Piranha! magazine has been removed
from publication, editor Andrew Booth
was not notified of this. It is believed
that copies are still in circulation.
Trinity News understands that Booth

promoted by O’Riordan.
Mr. O’Riordan, who has enjoyed
considerable
personal
financial
success promoting Citi Bar Tuesday
nights, posted flyers around Trinity
Hall, contrary to Trinity Hall Ents’
regulations brought in recently which
require prior permission. Ms. Dunne
called for security to close gates around
Trinity Hall, making it impossible for
O’Riordan to leave the complex. “I felt
like a f***ing 10 year old” O’Riordan
told Trinity News.
Ms. Dunne told Trinity News
that O’Riordan’s actions were “very
underhand”, and that O’Riordan and
his team “have behaved very badly
since. They came in behind my back”.
O’Riordan bemoaned the Trinity Hall
policy on event promotion, describing

it as an “artificial monopoly created by
their own rules”.
Trinity Hall Ents team will now not
be supporting the Student Union Ent’s
‘Thai Beach Party’ at Citi Bar on Tuesday
of Rag Week as had been initially
negotiated. Ms. Dunne told Trinity News
why Trinity Hall Ents pulled out of the
Cancer Society’s event: “If you’re trying
to say Trinity Hall isn’t supporting the
cancer society, that’s not the case at all.
We want to stand on our own two feet
ourselves, and focus on promoting our
own charity event on Wednesday of Rag
Week”. Ms. Dunne spoke of Trinity Hall
Ents’ successful run of events this year,
suggesting O’Riordan “doesn’t know
what to do with us anymore. He’s used
to dominating the whole scene”. Ms.
Dunne also refuted the suggestion that

pulling out of a Student Union event
would be seen as bringing her Ents team
in direct conflict with Ents on campus.
“People forget that we’re part of the
SU. I’m fully on the side of the SU. They
are so good to me” she said, pointing
out that she has previously worked her
calendar around Student Union events.
O’Riordan
spoke
of
his
disappointment
at
Trinity
Hall
Ents pulling out of the event. “I can
understand where they’re coming from,
but don’t punish a charity”, he pleaded.
Ms. Dunne offered another point of
view, saying O’Riordan, by hosting the
charity event, is merely motivated by
“gathering momentum” for subsequent
Citi Bar Tuesday nights – from which
venture O’Riordan stands to make
substantial profit.

email address from which it appeared
to be sent.
The email directly contravenes CSC’s
regulations on alcohol advertisment.
CSC previously informed societies that
they ‘may not advertise the cost of drink,
or “free drink”, “cheap drink” etc.’ Any
society that receives more than one
warning for disobeying these rules can
be punished by a 10% cut in their annual
grant. To date, a number of societies
have received a preliminary warning.
Joseph O’Gorman told Trinity News
that he had never seen the email in
question and commented that it could
not have come from CSC because they do
not advertise alcohol and always - unlike
this email - use Blind Carbon Copy (BCC)
in emails to student societies. Indeed, in
the same email which had outlined the
College’s alcohol policy to societies,
CSC advised all societies to use BCC in
any group emails. He further said that
the CSC would contact IS Services this
week.

Jesse
Malin /
Bats /
Fashion
and fur /
Cake shops /
Reviews and more

2

NEWS

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

“A voracious reader of
all forms of literature
from biography to
novels which enrich
the soul and ease me
to sleep at night”
- Provost John Hegarty
outlines his hobbies for
his entry into the 2009
Who’s Who?
“If you’re trying to say Trinity Hall isn’t
supporting the cancer society, that’s not the
case at all. We want to stand on our own two
feet ourselves, and focus on promoting our own
charity event on Wednesday of Rag Week”
- JCR Ents Officer Amy Dunne speaking about her
recent run-in with Ed O’Riordan.

THIS FORTNIGHT
THEY SAID...
Compiled by Deirdre Robertson

“I felt like a f***ing 10 year old”
- Former Ents officer Ed O’Riordan on his recent
clash with the JCR which led to him being locked
into Halls.

NUMEROLOGY
Compiled by Deirdre Robertson

» The cost of the ten new solar powered bins around the Trinity campus.

500
» The expected number of guests at the International Parrot Symposium
which is to be held in Trinity this June.

€123,008
» The additional allowances of Professor John Boland on top of his
€143,194 salary.

3
» The number of players Trinity’s under-21 hockey team were short at the
start of their match against Avoca on Sunday 11th January.

€2
» The price of the drinks promotions in Tripod that were advertised in a
CSC email last week.

received remunerations that included
bonuses that took their pay packages
in excess of recommended levels.
Although Provost John Hegarty’s
salary and expenses are not above the
guidelines, he lives at his residence at 1
Grafton Street at Trinity’s expense. His
security and cleaning staff are also paid
for. Dr. Hegarty’s use of the house cost
the college €5093 in 2007.
Trinity management has defended all
“additional allowances” and “expenses”
as “expenses incurred by them in
discharging their duties”.
Minister for Education Batt O’Keefe
said: “My understanding is that there are
certain restrictions (on how they spend
their money). At this point, the matter
is being investigated, and let’s see what
comes out of that.” The Comptoller and
Auditor General is looking into Trinity’s
spending of their allocated budget. Mr
O’Keefe said he may look at reducing
funds to Trinity.
The HEA issued a statement on the
matter of remuneration of Trinity staff
and staff at other universities. “Certain
matters in this regard are currently

» The number of new listings in this year’s Who’s Who? including Provost
of Trinity College John Hegarty.

CLARIFICATIONS AND CORRECTIONS
The vital try in the rugby Colours match was scored by Johnny Iliff, not John
Byrne, as we incorrectly reported on page 24 of our issue of November 25.

All Trinity News staff can be contacted at
firstname.lastname@trinitynews.ie.
Trinity News is funded by a grant from DU Publications Committee. This
publication claims no special rights or privileges. Serious complaints
should be addressed to: The Editor, Trinity News, 6 Trinity College, Dublin 2. Appeals may be directed to the Press Council of Ireland.
Trinity News is a full participating member of the
Press Council of Ireland and supports the Office of
the Press Ombudsman. This scheme in addition to
defending the freedom of the press, offers readers
a quick, fair and free method of dealing with complaints that they may have in relation to articles that
appear on our pages. To contact the Office of the
Press Ombudsman go to www.pressombudsman.ie

‘I’m on the RAG”
-The SU Ents slogan that has incited
the anger of some female students.

“Trinity takes matters of security and the welfare of
its students and staff most seriously.”
- Trinity Communications Office commenting on the
current investigation into Piranha! magazine.
“It is quite clear that the Junior Dean accepts that
she has no jurisdiction over what a student editor
can print, which make her moves against Piranha!
highly improper”
- Former editor of Trinity News, Gearoid O’Rourke on
the Junior Dean’s attempt to discipline Piranha! editor
Andrew Booth.

being addressed. Where unauthorised
allowances have come to light, the
HEA, in co-operation with Department
of Education and Science and Finance,
has tackled the institutions concerned.
The HEA acknowledges the strong
leadership in education and research
that is being provided by the Provost of
Trinity, John Hegarty”.
As recently as last October the HEA
defended pay levels of university heads
saying they were comparable to chief
executives of similar sized privatesector companies.
IFUT expressed their disappointment
with the figures being paid. Joseph
Brady, President of IFUT said: “Our
education system cannot afford these
hugely expensive individuals”. IFUT
also issued a statement expressing
their disappointment with the HEA’s
reluctance to issue the information describing the “secrecy and selectivity
which attended the award of
exceptionally high pay to a few chosen
people.”
The findings of the Oireachtas
Committee have yet to be published and
it remains to be seen if Trinity staff will
be subject to pay cuts.

SALARIES AND ADDITIONAL ALLOWANCES AND EXPENSES:
BASED ON 2007 FIGURES.
Salary

“It’s too bad that the York
administration is immune to
rational requests. They’d
rather spend almost 200
million dollars on a BS
59th birthday party”
-Scott McIver Thorn on the
strike in York University

“Your team-mates are your best
friends as well and if I look
back now, playing for Trinity...
would have been the most
important year for me.”
- Hockey star Ciara Murphy on her
days playing with Trinity.

Pay above max levels
continued from page 1

€33,500

“When parents and children around the country
see these, they will find it hard to comprehend
why they will now have to pay for these people
granting themselves generous bonuses -- and
they’d be right”
- Fine Gael Education Spokesman Brian
Hayes on top paid lecturers in Irish
universities.

has been called to the Junior Dean’s
office but is refusing to attend. He has
offered to speak to Dr Stokes informally
but has received no response to this.
When asked to make a comment to
the Irish Mail on Sunday, Mr Booth
referred to the inside cover of Piranha!
which states that all views, comments
and articles are opinionated satire
and not meant to be taken seriously.
Piranha! also state in the magazine that
it is a member of the Press Council of
Ireland.
The article which sparked Dr Stokes’
summons was a two-page spread titled
‘Going Out With A Bang: How To Leave
Trinity In Style’ outlining a number of
potential massacre scenarios around
campus. Trinity Monday, Freshers Week
and Last Pav Friday of the Year are all
cited as potential opportunities.
Catriona Gray, chairman of the
DU publications committee that partfunds the magazine, said that she had

not received any complaints about
this edition of Piranha! However, the
Communications Office told journalists
in the Irish Mail that “There have been
complaints from internal sources”
and that the action was a proactive
measure.
Speaking on behalf of Dr Stokes,
Trinity Communications told Trinity
News “Trinity College withdrew the
publication of Piranha by ensuring that
it was removed from circulation and the
future of the publication is currently
under consideration. The College
cannot comment further on this matter
as it is subject to ongoing investigations.
However, Trinity takes matters of
security and the welfare of its students
and staff most seriously.”
Piranha! was in controversy in
2006, when it printed a piece entitled
“Stinking sand niggers outraged by
Danish slight on their towel-headed
religion”. All 1500 copies of the disputed
issue were collected by college security
and destroyed within 24 hours.

RAG week slogan draws fire
this week until Friday 16th January. It
is a week that concentrates on raising
money for the charities under the Trinity
Volunteering Opportunities Forum.
The five charities involoved are Vincent
de Paul, Volunteer Tuition Programme,
Student 2 Student, Suas and the Free
Legal Advice Centre.
A source close to the Ents Officer
claimed that the College Equality Officer
had been in touch with Longworth over
the contentious phrase. This, however,
could not be confirmed.
In relation to the complaints that the
SU have received, Foley said that each
would be taken very seriously and all
queries should be addressed to her. She
pointed out that she has already been
in touch with Dean of Students Gerry
Whyte in order to confirm that the
SU had not breached the Equal Status
Acts.
A brief survey of Trinity students
indicates a wide variation of opinions on
the slogan stretching from indignation
and disgust to hysterical laughter. A
number of students, however, were
merely confused.

By Deirdre Robertson
College News Editor
FEMINISTS HAVE taken a stand
against the Students Union this week
objecting to the ‘derogatory’ slogan of
RAG week.
Ents Officer Nick Longworth and
Welfare Officer Orlaith Foley have
received complaints about the slogan
‘I’m on the rag’ which is featured on
bright red hoodies, tshirts and stickers
posted all over campus.
Foley commented that a complaint
she received objected that the slogan
is derogatory to the female population
of Trinity. Longworth likewise received
two complaints.
It has emerged that the slogan was
chosen by a RAG week committee
composed entirely of male members.
Foley insists, however, that she was
consulted before the decision was
finalised and that she had no problem
with it going to print.
‘It was in no way meant to insult or
offend anybody’ she said, noting that
she had asked the opinion of a number
of other girls before agreeing that the
wording was not offensive.
She continued that the reason such
an attention grabbing phrase had

The back of the RAG week t-shirt.
been used was in order to increase the
publicity of RAG week which has not
been as successful as hoped in previous
years. ‘In fact,’ she added, ‘It’s great that

the tshirts are getting such attention
because RAG week needs a lot of
publicity.’
RAG week is running throughout

“Offensive Ents slogan is a red rag
to a bull”
Opinion section, page14

NEWS

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

3

Who’s who? The Provost, that’s who
By Conor Sullivan
THE PROVOST of Trinity College, John
Hegarty, outlines for the ordinary man
what he gets up to in his spare time in
the 2009 edition of Who’s Who.
Founded in 1897, Who’s Who is a
directory of people worth knowing
about, the great and the good and the
famous. As they put it, the book “aims
to list people who through their careers
affect the political economic, scientific,
and artistic life of the country”. An
appearance in the book apparently
“recognises distinction and influence”.
Now, none other than Dr. Hegarty has
been included in the latest edition of the
famous book.
The hefty tome, Who’s Who 2009,
costs over €200. Each profile page begins
with a description of achievements
such as qualifications and professional
positions, before a description of each
entrant’s interests. Provost Hegarty

is noted for his position and lists his
achievements. These include his
conferral with an honorary doctorate of
laws from Queen’s University, Belfast,
his founding of Optronics Ireland, and
his Professorship in Laser Physics in
Trinity.
For those who have ever wondered
what the Provost gets up to in his
spare time, each entry includes a short
paragraph on this. We now know that
he is a “voracious reader of all forms
of literature from biography to novels
which enrich the soul and ease me to
sleep at night.”
On a more active note, his hobbies
include, “sailing and a love of the power
and unpredictability of the sea”. He also
enjoys cycling “for leisure, especially
around West Kerry’.
The original aim of Who’s Who was,
and still is, to recognise people whose
“prominence is inherited, or depending
upon office, or the result of ability which
singles them out from their fellows in

The Provost meets with US Senator John McCain during his visit to the Phil in 2004. Photo: Matt Pitt

CELEBRITY PATRONAGE

‘Fiery’ Campbell speaks to Phil
Supermodel Naomi Campbell accosted by anti-fur protesters on her way to receive an honorary patronage
from the DU Philosophical Society

By Lisa Byrne
FIERY SUPERMODEL, Naomi Campbell,
paid a visit to the College last month to
receive an honorary patronage courtesy of the
Philosophical Society.
Arriving 30 minutes late (fashionably),
Campbell seemed unfazed by the presence of
anti fur campaigners outside of the college.
Having been introduced by Phil President
Ruth Faller, Campbell thanked the Society
and expressed her happiness at being back in
Ireland. The model gave an account of her story
thus far, discussing her highs, lows and current
charitable activities.
Campbell described being spotted by the
head of Synchro Model Agency, Beth Boldt,
while out shopping. 15 year old Campbell found
unimaginable success on the catwalk.
She went on to star in a number of high
profile campaigns for the likes of Lee Jeans and
Ralph Lauren. Shortly before her 16th Birthday,
Campbell graced the cover of ‘Elle’ magazine.
She went on to become the first black cover girl
on French ‘Vogue’. Campbell continued to break
the mould becoming the first black cover girl for
English ‘Vogue’, and ‘Time’ magazine, amongst
others. To date, Campbell has appeared on the
cover of over 500 magazines world wide.
Modelling has not been Campbell’s only
career choice with the model dabbling in acting,
singing and writing along the way.
Campbell made a number of appearances in
music videos throughout the 1990’s including
George Michael’s “Freedom! ‘90” and
Madonna’s “Erotica”. She has also appeared in
videos for Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Michael Jackson and
Nelly to name but a few.
Having had a taste of the music life, Campbell
went on to record her own music working with
the likes of Vanilla Ice and Quincy Jones. Her
solo debut album “Baby Woman” was released
in 1995 but her chart success did not mirror her
success on the catwalk. Her single “Love and
Tears” failed to set the chart alight.
Campbell’s career choices have led to
controversy at times. In 1994, Campbell set her
sights on the literary world ‘penning’ the novel
“Swan”. It later emerged that Campbell did not
in fact write the book, claiming she simply didn’t
have the ‘time’ to sit down and write one.
Controversy has followed her onto the
catwalk also. After staring in an anti-fur
campaign for animal rights group PETA in 1997,
Campbell was seen modelling fur coats on the
Milan catwalks only weeks later.

occupations open to every educated
man or woman”. The College did not
respond to requests from Trinity News
as to which category Dr. Hegarty falls
in to.
According to its website, when
selecting people to include, “Prominent
figures in numerous fields are considered
by the [Selection] Board on the basis
of their continuing achievements,
and ultimately selected due to their
exceptional pre-eminence.”
The book now contains over 33,000
biographies, including 800 new listings
this in this edition, the 161st. Apparently
during the Second World War Churchill
personally intervened to ensure it would
be continue to be published. Entries
are for life, and the individual entries
are moved to Who Was Who when the
entrants die.
Some controversy surrounds the
publication since the entries are selfreported, and there has been a tendency
of entrants to omit details.

Catholic
institute
on way?
By Thomas Raftery

Her criminal record is almost as colourful as
her career. To date, Campbell has had assault
charges brought against her by 5 members of
staff including threatening to push an assistant
out of a moving car in ‘98. In ‘05, Campbell
punched Italian actress Yvonne Scio for daring
to wear the same dress as the model. Most
recently, Campbell punched a police officer after
one of her bags was lost following a flight on
British Airways.
While in Trinity, Campbell spoke on her
frequent brushes with the law, saying “I feel
terribly ashamed of what I’ve done .. I’ve
apologised and I did my community service …”
She then flashed a smile adding “in style”.
Campbell discussed her charity work, which
has mainly focused on the needs of those living
in Sub Saharan Africa. Campbell’s charity work
includes “Fashion for Relief”, a fashion show
where the clothes are auctioned off to raise
money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In
2007, she presented the Live Earth concert in
Johannesburg.
As with most aspects in Campbell’s life,
even her charity work has not been without
controversy. Her alliance with human rights
campaigner Nelson Mandela, whom she often
affectionately referred to as her ‘grandfather’,
appeared to come to an end this year. It was
reported that Mandela asked to have Campbell’s
name removed from his ninetieth birthday party
list following her most recent conviction of
assault.
When Campbell finished speaking she was
happy to take questions from the audience.
Asked about her current relationship with U2
star Adam Clayton, to whom she was engaged
to in the early 90‘s, Campbell diplomatically
answered “I’m very good friends with all my U2
family”. It would certainly appear to be true as
Campbell was accompanied to the event by Ali
Hewson, wife of Bono.
Asked about her time spent in Ireland,
Campbell enthusiastically replied that she
loved the Irish and surprisingly revealed a
penchant for Irish takeaways. “I don’t work out
everyday and when I was here I used to go to
Abrakebabra”.
Perhaps out of relief that Campbell had
managed to keep her temper under control
and refrained from throwing her blackberry
at anyone, the 200 audience members gave
the supermodel a round of applause. The
model then strutted out of the auditorium with
billionaire property developer and rumoured
fiancee Vladislav Doronin back to her home for
the weekend, the Westbury Hotel.

DUBLIN’S ORIGINAL Protestant
academic institution, Trinity College,
may well see a Catholic institute of
technology established here this
autumn. Negotiations are currently
ongoing, and reportedly ‘at an advanced
stage’ between TCD and the Jesuitcontrolled Milltown Institute in Dublin.
It has come as a surprise to many
that University College Dublin (UCD)
has rejected a similar proposal from
the Institute. UCD, founded by
Cardinal John Henry Newman in 1851,
grew out of the Catholic University of
Ireland. Throughout its history it has
traditionally been seen as the Catholic
alternative to Trinity, famously founded
by staunch Protestant Queen Elizabeth
I.
A UCD spokesperson has denied
suggestions that their rejection of the
proposal was routed in their fear that
they would once again be labelled as ‘the
Catholic University’. Senior academics
have similarly distanced themselves
from this anti-Catholic stance.
A spokeswoman for the university
asserted that it had moved on to ‘a more
mature place where religion and the
past are concerned’. She added that it
was ‘a concoction to suggest that there
had been an anti-Catholic recoil’ at
UCD during the talks with the Milltown
Institute. The same spokeswoman
claimed that “Contrary to popular
mythology, UCD’s overriding concern
had been about academic quality”
The Milltown Institute, of which 17
Catholic religious congregations are
trustees, comprises of two entities: a
recognised college of the NUI (National
University of Ireland), and a pontifical
faculty. The difference being that the
former half awards its students with
civil degrees, while the latter awards
degrees accredited by the Vatican.
It offers courses on theology,
philosophy and spirituality and has
become one of Ireland’s leading
authorities attracting international
students from an estimated 40 countries.
A statement from the Institute said,
where negotiations with Trinity were
concerned, its trustees wanted ‘to see
Catholic Theology in a major university
in dialogue with the surrounding
culture, in ecumenical dialogue and in
dialogue with other religious traditions.
This vision is shared by TCD. The
preservation of the ethosand identity
of the respective partners forms a
cornerstone of this alliance’.

Music technology course cancelled
By Kasia Mychajlowycz
A NEW course for 2009 entitled “Music
and music technology” that was offered
to prospective undergraduate students
in the 2009 prospectus has been
cancelled. Students who arrived at the
College for Open Day on December 10th
were dismayed and confused on learning
that the course they had hoped to apply
for, was no longer available.
Music and music technology
was meant to be focused on music
theory and composition, offering an
education to those who wish to pursue

composition, recording and sound
engineering, but who don’t necessarily
play an instrument. Unlike other music
courses, the focus was not on becoming
a proficient performing musician, but
on behind-the-scenes production for
the recording arts, television and film.
The course was to provide traditional
lectures on musical history “from Bach
to hip hop”, as well as access to “the
best available equipment” in music
technology.
Not
only
were
prospective
entrants required to take an entrance
examinations, the prospectus reads,
interviews were to be conducted before

the final selection.
Conor Barry, a Leaving Cert student
at Gonzaga College, arrived at Trinity
College’s Open Day only to find that the
course he was most interested in was no
‘There were a
lot of poeple like
me, and there
were pissed off
about it.’
longer available. He had read about the
goals of the music technology course in
the Prospectus, and wanted in. “When I
showed up to the Trinity Open Day, they

didn’t exactly have a music technology
stall. I went to the music department,
and they told me it was cancelled. There
were a lot of people like me, and they
were pissed off about it.”
When Mr. Barry asked why the course
was cancelled, someone from the music
department told him they were going to
involve more music technology in the
music course that’s already offered.
An administrator at the Admission
office told Trinity News that his office
was informed of the cancellation on
December 8th by the head of the Music
Department, Professor Kevin Rocket,
who could not be reached for comment.

A notice on the prospective student’s
website was then put up to inform
students of the change, but further
details could not obtained as Admission
Officer Susan Powers is out of College
until the end of the week.
A shrinking budget and the financial
crisis may be to blame for the course’s
cancellation, as the offer of high-tech
and high-priced equipment in a small
class setting may have proved too
expensive for a college where some
class sizes exceed the capacity of their
assigned auditorium.
What made this course different
from the other music courses offered

by Trinity is what attracted Mr. Barry in
the first place. “It isn’t all based around
compositional theory, it’s around
computer-based music, and software
music and I’m really interested in that,
it’s a hobby of mine, and I thought it
would be really cool.”
He will still apply for the music course
offered by Trinity, but would prefer the
music technology courses in Queen’s
Belfast, or the University of Edinburgh.
The only other Irish universities to
offer music technology, he said, are
Limerick and Maynooth, but Maynooth
requires that students take the course in
conjunction with another course.

4

NEWS

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

SHORT
CUTS

Phil debators in world quarter finals

FEIDHMCHLAIR

TRINITY COLLEGE debating was
given a considerable boost at the recent
Cork World Debating Championships,
with the University Philosophical
Society team of Ruth Faller and Kiera
Healy reaching the quarterfinals and
becoming the highest placed Irish team
in the competition.
Faller and Healy broke 9th into the
knockout rounds and were one of 6
teams from Trinity College, representing
both the University Philosophical and
College Historical Societies.
Faller and Ruth’s successed meant
that they gained the top position in
the competition out of all of the Irish
entries.

FACEBOOK NOW
AS GAEILGE
A TRINITY student is leading
the initiative to translate
popular networking site,
Facebook, into Irish.
Gabriel Beecham, a medical
student in Trinity College is part
of a consensus group of Irish
speakers who aim to translate
the site’s key phrases into Irish.
Terms such as ‘tag’ and ‘poke’
are already as Gaeilge. ‘Poke’
is now ‘sonc’ and ‘to tag’ has
been changed to ‘clib a chur’.
Facebook itself has been
translated as ‘Feidhmchlair.’
Mr Beecham believes that
translating Facebook will help
to portray Irish as a modern
working language. Similar
initiatives are translating the
site into Esperanto, Welsh and
Afrikaans.

By Caroline O’Leary

Faller, a former President of the
Phil, and Healy, the society’s current
registrar, were delighted at the success,
as well as being the first Trinity team
to reach the knockout stage of the
competition since 2005.
Kiera Healy told Trinity News “Ruth
and I are so pleased to have reached the
quarter-finals. It feels particularly good
as neither of us had any experience
debating before coming to college,
whereas many speakers have been
doing this since secondary school. Less
I’m in second year, and had never even
heard of competitive debating until I
got involved with the Phil last year. It
feels fantastic, and I hope we have many
more successes to come.”
The team were joined in the
competition by other Phil teams “A”

Former Phil president Ruth Faller
ranked ninth speaker overall

Jonathan Wyse and Brian O’Beirne,
and novice team “C” Andrew Linn and
Shauna Maguire, as well as the 3 teams
form the Historical society of Niall
Sherry and Niamh ni Mhaoileoin, Harry
McEvansoneya and Ciaran Parkin, and
Graham Kelly and Kate Hayes-Brady.
Linn and Maguire, who both took
part in the Phil Speaks initiative in
school before attending Trinity, had
previously won the novice competition
in Cork the previous October and took
the place of Phil President Barry Devlin
and David Maguire who decided to give
them their place to gain experience.
The competition was ultimately won
by Oxford team Will Jones and James
Dray at the January 3rd finals. Jones,
who regularly runs debating workshops
in the GMB, said, “Debate is important

and more than just random argument.
Debating is people expressing their
opinions and articulating their ideas in a
persuasive manner. College is the perfect
time to start learning how to do this,
and organisations such as The Phil and
The Hist can teach you these valuable
life skills along with public speaking,
logical reasoning and confidence. I’d
recommend involvement to anyone.”
In preparation for the competition,
the teams competed in several Inter
Varsity competitions such as those held
in Cork, Oxford, UCD and Cambridge.
At the Cambridge competition Faller
and Healy reached the final while Wyse
and O’Beirne reached the semi-finals.
Will Jones will giving a workshop on
public speaking at The Phil on Thursday
22nd at 11.am.

CANCER RESEARCH

TRINITY CLOSE TO
CANCER CURE
TRINITY COLLEGE have
joined together with Queens
University in a new cancer
research initiative.
The project aims to develop
treatments for the most
dangerous forms of cancer. It
is one of the first cross-Border
projects of this kind.
The initiative will cost €1.4m
and create 12 new research
positions. If focuses on cancers
which have the lowest survival
rates.
The effort began when
Queens University found
potential biological targets
against cancer cells. Trinity’s
part is now to use its computer
modelling system to design
completely new drugs that can
exploit these biological targets.

The tension
builds as
Professor
Mike Jones of
the School of
Botany guides
David Attenborough as
he opens the
Centre of Biodiversity and
Sustainable
Development
on December
18. Photo:
Katherine
Southall

MALAYSIA

BIDS FOR NON-EU
STUDENTS
TRINITY COLLEGE will attend
the Malaysian Star Education
Fair for the first time this
year in order to encourage
Malaysian students to come to
the college.
The Malaysian Star
Education Fair is an annual
event in Kuala Lampur
which includes universities
from all over the world.
Malaysian students are
offered the opportunity to
speak to representatives
from international colleges.
Institutions that want to
advertise at the fair have
to ballot for booths at the
fair. Trinity College have
successfully gained a booth
alongside nine other Irish
institutions.
Executive secretary of
Enterprise Ireland, Sabrina Ng
told Malaysian press that she
would be promoting business,
IT, engineering and hospitality
degrees in Ireland.

Solar powered waste disposal for college
By Jelena Ivanovic
Deputy College News Editor
THEIR BIGBELLYS arrived before
Christmas 2008 and can be seeen dotted
around Fellows’ Square. Not your
average trash can, Trinity College have
invested in 10 innovative solar powered
rubbish bins at a cost of €3,500 each.
Kyron Power and Energy distributes
the bins around Ireland. According
to Marketing manager Dominick
Devereux, the rubbish bin is essentially
a mini compactor that is 80% more
efficient than a normal rubbish bin.
The battery to power the compactor
mechanism is fully chargable by solar
energy making them self-sufficient.
Maintenance involves an oil and battery
check every six months. The solar bins

have currently freed from three to treeand-a-half hours per day for grounds
staff.
The original US design was
customised especially for Trinity
to include a cigarette receptacle.
According to Grounds and Gardens
Supervisor David Hackett there are
plans to extend them to the whole
campus if they prove a success. Mr
Hackett said he is always on the look out
for improvements to the waste facilities
and had seen the bins whilst travelling
abroad.
The bins are an environmentally
friendlier alternative to the average cast
iron bins that are also used at Trinity,
and better adhere to new health and
safety regulations for staff. They are
at present emptied every three days,

whereas daily emptying is required
for all the other bins. However,
the real test will be the summer
months which are the peak
rubbish season.
At €3,350 each and
costlier than their cast iron
counterparts
by
nearly
€500, the bins involve less
maintenance and improved
hygiene through complete
enclosure of rubbish,
Their capacity is five
times greater than
regular bins,
A series of three
lights – green, yellow
and red, alert their
owner to what
fcapacity
they

are at, yellow implying that compaction
has taken place and red that emptying
is required. Compaction takes 41
seconds but the bin can still be
used whilst this is taking
place.
Speaking to Trinity
News, Mr. Devereux noted
that four hours of daylight
are required to power the
12-hour battery life, which
can then power the bin for 28
days, effectively meaning that
they are always charged.
Trinity College was
first roll out the BigBelly in
Ireland and was fast followed by
Dublin City Council. Orders have
since come from Tramore, Bray,
Naas and Cavan, confirms Kyron.

YOUR
VIEW
WHAT DID YOU
THINK OF THE
SLOGAN
“ON THE RAG” ?

MATTHIEU HUOT

SARAH CRAMER

DARREN KEOGH

ALAN FARRELL

SS CIVIL ENGINEERING

JS PHILOSOPHY

JS ECONOMICS &
POLITICS

SF FRENCH & DRAMA

I’m not sure. I probably don’t
get it because I am French, it’s a
slang joke lost on me!

I think student societies often
use slogans like this to grab
attention. It’s not that bad - just
another failed attempt to catch
our notice.

I think it’s disgraceful. The
person who permitted this set
back the course of feminism
by centuries. Where can I get
one of the hoodies? To burn, of
course...

RACHEL KAVANAGH
PHD GEOGRAPHY
My instant reaction is that it’s a
bit tasteless. Obviously it’s been
thought up by a boy!

NEWS

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

No love for Trinity parrots
By Sarah Rose Montague
MOST PEOPLE have heard of drugs
and arms being smuggled on the
black market, but an international
symposium being held in Trinity
College this summer hopes to highlight
something very different that is also
prevalent on the black market: parrots.
The first International Parrot
Symposium is being held in the college
in June of this year and will host 16
keynote speakers from all over the
world. Experts in the field will address
issues such as conservation in the wild,
breeding and conservation in captivity
and behaviour of parrots in a series of
lectures.
The organizer of the event, Mr.
Jerry Kidd, claims that the ‘smuggling
of endangered animals is the third
largest black market in the world’
and within this, parrots are the most
commonly smuggled animal. Through
the symposium Mr. Kidd hopes to bring
attention to this rather unusual side of
the criminal underworld.
In addition to the international
problem, Mr. Kidd, hopes that the
event will bring attention to his own
personal battle of bird preservation.
He has gained recent publicity in his

quest for permission to retain his
collection of rare and endangered birds
despite complaints from his Terenure
neighbours.
Mr. Kidd has been breeding
different species of birds for the past
30 years. He declared he ‘had a love
for birds since I was about 12 years old’
Mr. Kidd’s bird collection, including
six pairs of macaws and Australian
parakeets as well as parrots, have been
been bringing a bit of tropical colour

to the suburbs of Dublin for years,
but some of his neighbours are not
too impressed with these particular
sounds of nature and have issued
noise complaints to the council. The
birdcalls at sunrise and sunset are
evidently unwelcome alarm clocks for
many of the residents.
Mr. Kidd’s request to renew the
planning permission of his aviary was
rejected due to these noise complaints.
He is now making an appeal to be

allowed to retain a smaller and reduced
aviary.
The aviary, located in the large
back garden of his house in Terenure,
had previously received planning
permission back in 1998 and had
been inspected by the Health Services
Executive.
Now, in order to remove the noise
objection, Mr. Kidd has said that he is
‘willing to reduce the number of birds
and remove some of the loudest’. Until

the result of his appeal is announced,
all of the birds have been removed and
set up in temporary residence with
other breeders.
Despite a personal interest
in various species of birds, Kidd
decided to concentrate the upcoming
symposium solely on parrots. He says
that ‘parrots from around the world
constitute the greatest percentage of
smuggled animals’. He adds that the
main reason for the symposium is ‘to
highlight the need for protection of
endangered species both in the wild
and in captivity’, by educating people
and raising money for conservation.
The event, which hopes to attract
approximately 500 people from all
over the world with a similar interest
in parrots, is the first of its type
in Northern Europe. The host of
speakers includes world-renowned
child-psychologist Susan Friedman,
who has applied her expertise to parrot
behaviour because their mental ability
is apparently similar to that of a three
to four year old human child.
Accordingly, Kidd is concerned for
his own birds and the distressing effect
that their displacement may have on
their mental wellbeing. ‘The whole
thing has been very stressful for them,’
he commented.

Future uncertain for Lincoln Place watering hole
By Jelena Ivanovic
Deputy College News Editor
THE FUTURE of the Lincolns Inn pub is
uncertain due to the extensive financial
difficulties of the Thomas Read group.
Rent payments to Trinity College
are outstanding on the lease held by the
Thomas Read group for the Lincolns Inn
pub. The Group had bought the lease
for the Trinity owned premises in 2006
and with the College and Dublin City
Council, undertook renovations which
saw the pub re-open in early 2007 with
a traditional and student-friendly feel.
The dispute came to light when
national press reported that Trinity
agents were seeking to reenter the
premises. The Director of Buildings
Office subsequently denied this.
The Thomas Read group, better
known for its considerable bar portfolio
around the capital, ended 2008 with
a file for examinership, bringing into

question the future of The Lincolns
Inn and of other notable drinking
holes operated by the group such
as, The Bailey, Ron Blacks and The
Harbourmaster.
Paul Managn, The Director of
Trinity’s Buildings’ Office confirmed
that they had “initiated legal action
arising from the non-payment on
rental,” but noted that no attempts were
made to enter the premises, as had been
reported in some national press.
He added “The College is hopeful
that the examinership will lead to
appropriate restructuring of the
financial position of the Thomas Read
group for the benefit of its creditors and
in order that its various components,
including the Lincolns Inn, will continue
for trade.”
Trinity College is just one of the many
creditors awaiting to hear the outcome
of the application for examinership
which was brough to the Hight Court
on 28 November 2008 by Guernville

Lincoln’s Inn, owned by Thomas Reads group. Photo: Martin McKenna
Ltd, the parent company of Sharmane
Ltd and 14 related companies, known
collectively as the Thomas Read group.
The story began to unravel in
October 2008, when Mark Leavey, the

managing director of Sharmane Ltd,
took an injuction against his employers
after he was told his position was being
made redundant. In actual fact, the
company could no longer afford to

pay him. The process of examinership
provides court protection for the
group’s operations from creditors while
they try to restructure debts and save
their business.
The pub, situated at 18/19 Lincoln
Place, has been of interest to Trinity
students since its lease was offered for
sale in 2004 amid speculation that the
Students Union might take over the
premises.
The Thomas Read group operate a
total of 22 bars, mainly in Dublin City
Centre and all eight of the bars at
Dublin Airport. The groups combined
debt stands at over €26m, with the main
creditors including Diageo Ireland,
Heineken and Britvic C&C. €15m of its
debt is owed to ACC bank, a subsidiary of
Rabobank – coincidently the dutch bank
also implicated in the Enron Scandal in
the early 2000s.
The Thomas Read group did not
respond to requests for a statement on
the matter.

5

SHORT
CUTS
USI FEES PROTEST

‘GOVERNMENT
PANIC’
THE CAMPAIGNS officer of the
Union of Students in Ireland
said the organisation’s aim is
that the Government “starts
panicking” over its plans to
introduce student fees. David
Curran made the comment at a
public meeting in TCD shortly
before the end of the last term.
He also revealed the union’s
plans on the issue for the
coming months.
Aside from the national
demonstration on fees on
February 4th, USI plans to
encourage as many students
to vote in the upcoming
local elections as possible.
The protest is to be explicitly
related to the forthcoming
local elections, and registering
students to vote was “very
important” in this regard said
Curran.
USI also plans a Student
Activist Summit, held most
likely at a DIT campus in the
near future. The aim is to
teach the skills needed for
effective campaigning, and it
is estimated that between 400
and 500 people will take part.
By Rory O’Connor
HONORARY DEGREES

ATTENBOROUGH
AND PRATCHETT
TERRY PRATCHETT and David
Attenborough have both been
awarded honorary degrees by
Trinity College.
The acclaimed author,
Terry Pratchett has sold more
than 55million copies of his
satirical works and has also
given significant donations for
Alzheimer’s research, a disease
which he himself has.
Attenborough was awarded
the degree for his significant
contribution to natural history
and broadcasting.

6

NATIONAL NEWS

SHORT
CUTS

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

UCC test-drives iPhone hitchking app
By Aine Pearl Pennello

ENERGY

€5M FUNDING
FOR NUIG CENTRE
NUI GALWAY’S newly
established Energy Research
Centre has been granted
€5 million in initial research
funding. The centre which aims
to become a hub for energy
research in Ireland anticipates
filling up to 20 research and
development positions in 2009.
The centre’s director, Prof
Vincent O’ Flaherty believes
in a “holistic approach”,
which focuses on education
and outreach in addition to
progressive research. He
envisages clear opportunities
for Ireland in this critical field
which integrates “sciencedriven understanding
with engineering-based
implementation”. Potential for
new approaches extends from
electricity-producing microorganisms to smarter wind
power.
Researchers from Teagasc,
the Marine Institute, partner
universities and other
international bodies will
collaborate with the centre
dedicated to Energy research.
It is widely believed that
Ireland needs to upscale
energy research and take a
more co-ordinated approach
nationally if it wishes to secure
a leading role in this vital sector,
where future economic growth
is guaranteed.
Lillian O’ Sullivan
FEES

“BIGGEST STUDENT
PROTEST EVER”
THE UNION of Students in
Ireland is planning what is
described as “the biggest mass
protest Ireland has ever seen”
in Dublin on February 4th next.
This action is in opposition to
the proposed reintroduction
of third level fees in the Irish
education system and the
proposed increase in the
registration fee for students.
These reforms, which would
see the registration fee rise
to €1,500, have recently been
proposed by minister for
Education Batt O’Keefe.
The last few months
have been dominated by
controversy regarding these
proposed increases. There
have been student protests
and blockades of ministerial
visits in many campuses across
the country. This includes
forcing Minister of State Conor
Lenihan to withdraw from
attending a debate hosted
by the University of Dublin’s
Literary and Historical Society
on 12th November last.
Trinity College’s Students’
Union has sent an email to
students asking them to come
out and protest on the day.
James Arthurs
HEALTH

RISE IN FLU-LIKE
ILLNESSES
A SHARP nationwide increase
in seasonal reports of
influenza-like illnesses (ILI)
has recently been reported
by the Health Protection
Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
The HPSC is Ireland’s specialist
agency for the surveillance of
communicable diseases. Its
calculations are based on data
gathered from a network of 54
GPs across the country.
The College Health
Service (CHS), following a
previous recommendation
made by the World Health
Organisation, temporarily
offered a vaccination service to
staff and students, which was
made available from Monday
September 29 for eight weeks.
Despite the recent HPSC
findings, there are no official
plans on behlaf of the CHS to
renew its vaccination service.
However, it is still provisionally
able to continue the service
while its stocks of the vaccine
last. The cost is €15 for studnts,
and €30 for staff members.
Hussein Sarhan

STEPHAN KOCH, commuter plan
manager at UCC, plans to test what he
calls “computer-driven hitchhiking”
early this year. Avego, based in
Kinsale, has developed a new iPhone
application, which will allow drivers
and potential hitchhikers to meet
up in a safe manner while helping
to reduce traffic congestion. The
system, explains managing director
Sean O’Sullivan, works like so: a
driver who is willing to offer a lift
must download Avego’s application
from the web, map out their route and
destination and then place their iPhone
on the dashboard of their car. The
iPhone records the driver’s route and
sends it to the Avego network which will
then insert pick-up locations for hopeful
passengers. While drivers must possess
an iPhone to use the service, passengers
do not. Passengers can find a ride by
texting, calling or using the Avego
website. Once the passenger finds their
desired route and is accepted by the
driver, s/he can identify the driver (and
vice versa) through photographs and

The software to facilitate car pooling commuters will run on Apple’s iPhone.

identifying PIN numbers. The journey
itself is paid by the passenger via the
web. The application works much like a
taxi service with the passenger charged
30 cents per mile, 85% of which goes to
the driver to cover petrol costs with the
remaining 15% to Avego.
Mr. Koch hopes the system, in
conjunction with public transport and
cycling, will ease congestion for UCC
commuters. With 17, 000 students and
2, 600 staff, “the road capacity simply
isn’t there” ,Mr. Koch says. In a study it
was found that 70% of UCC’s staff and
36% of the university’s students use a
car to go to and from campus daily. Mr.
Koch hopes that by using Avego, staff
and students alike can reduce these
daily single-occupancy commutes,
meaning less traffic on the road and less
competition in the car park.
The application and others like it
allow the driver to offer a ride without
the pressures and dependency of
committing to regular carpooling. S/
he also has the ultimate freedom of
choosing when, to where and with whom
to offer a ride even whilst on route. The
photographs and PIN numbers ensure
an increased level of safety for both the

driver and passenger alike.
While Mr. O’Sullivan admits it will
take drivers used to the solo commute
some time to give up their private space,
he hopes that reduced transportation
costs offered by the system will act as a
big incentive. “It will require behaviour
changes on the part of the drivers and
riders”, he says. However similar iPhone
applications such as Carticipate, have
caught on quickly with both drivers and
hitchhikers alike. Carticipate, released in
October 2008, has already had 10, 000
downloads. Hendrik Hilbolling of the
Netherlands uses Carticipate instead of
the train to see his girlfriend in France.
Hendrik enjoys the system’s economical
value as well as the companionship such
applications offer, having shared one of
his recent journeys with a film director,
“This is a nice ride” he says, “we can
talk, and this way is much cheaper”.

we need to be prepared to look at new
ways to provide the services the public
need in the most efficient and effective
manner. We must focus spending on
areas of greatest priority and reduce
sharply those activities which are not
essential.”
Mr. Cowen also placed an emphasis
on the need for a highly skilled and
flexible workforce in order to ensure a
vibrant economy for the future.
However while Mr. Cowen and the
Tanaiste Mary Coughlan made their
way to China for trade talks, Finance
Minister Brian Lenihan was left to
weather the storm of controversy
surrounding proposed cut-backs in the
public sector.
Speculation
surrounding
the
planned cut-backs include cuts of
between 5 and 10 per cent in the public
sector. These cuts will most likely be
instigated through redundancies, nonreplacement of retiring staff and actual
pay cuts. The salary decreases would
target public service workers who earn
over 40,000 euro.
Cutbacks in the public sector
seem more inevitable now, as the
unemployment rate is set to increase
further. While Mr Cowen prepares
for talks with the social partners, he

issued a warning that there is no quick
fix solution to the economic turmoil of
recent months.
Speaking to the Irish Times ahead
of his meeting, he made a sobering
declaration that it could take up to five
years to return the Irish economy to a
state of equilibrium.
Meanwhile the crushing news of job
losses has hit the mid west of Ireland
hard. Once a hub of multinational
software production, the technology
bubble appears to have finally burst, in
Limerick at least.
Dell announced late last week that
it intended to migrate all production
of computer systems for customers in
Europe, the Middle East and Africa to
Poland. While it promised competitive
severance packages for its affected
workers the loss of almost 2,000 jobs
looks set to impact greatly on the local
economy.
Mr. Cowen described the proposed
out sourcing of production as a major
blow to the mid west.
It also comes as a major blow to
the leader and his party. His words at
the announcement for a sustainable
economic renewal last month will do
little to ease the sobering reality of those
recently laid off.

For more information you can visit
Avego’s website, www.avego.com
or do it the student way and check
out their video on www.youtube.
com. The iPhone application is now
available from the Avego website as
a free beta download.

HE DOWN-WARD spiral
of the Irish economy took
a dramatic turn this week
when the Dell plant in
Limerick announced the
axing of 1,900 jobs. This followed a call
earlier in the week by Taoiseach Brian
Cowen for the Irish public to join him
and his government in their cost-saving
measures.
Speaking to the Irish Times, Brian
Cowen defended his party’s line on
the worsening economic crisis, “We
have indicated to the public what the
strategic strengths of the economy are”.
He asked the Irish people to support the
government’s initiative and strive for a
spirit of innovation in the public sector.
While attempting to allay the fears
of the Irish peoples, Mr Cowen insisted
that tough measures would have to be
taken to withstand the stormy seas
of recession. In the short term, he
indicated that cuts would have to be
made across the public sector, including
the health service.
He expressed a need for efficient cost
saving measures that did not jeopardize
the most vulnerable in society. However
recent cuts in the health service and
education have been met with some
resistance from those affected.

Dell’s plant in Limerick, now closed.
As almost 2,000 job losses across
Ireland were announced this week - the
hardest hit being Limerick, with the
elimination of 1,900 jobs - Mr Cowen
called for a realistic outlook in these
uncertain times. Referring to the global
fiscal crisis, the Taoiseach was adamant
that the best approach in these times is
versatility.
“We are in a recession. The fact that
it is such a global recession makes it
harder because we depend on selling
into these markets”. He continued to
push for a more versatile outlook in
terms of industry, claiming “a switch of
emphasis may be needed”.
With the loss of so many jobs in
one week, it comes as no surprise that
unemployment hit a ten year high of
8.3% in December. The Taoiseach’s
words were of limited comfort to those
struck off the pay roll and to those
entering the job market. However he
encouraged people to focus on the
positive economic climate of the last 12
years.
Outlining the government’s plans,
Mr Cowen suggested that investment
in education, research and development
would pave the way for a more stable
future. “We believe it is a worthwhile
investment for the country that will

bring benefits” he said.
Before Christmas, Brian Cowen
attended the announcement of Building
Ireland’s Smart Economy: A Framework
for Sustainable Economic Renewal
in Dublin Castle. In his speech at the
event Mr Cowen stated that “we will
have to come through this (recession)”.
He went on to say that it is up to the
Irish workforce to come through it
in a creative manner. Confirming
his economic vision for the future of
Taoiseach calls
for skilled
workforce to
tackle economic
crisis
Ireland he stated,“When this is over
there will be a new economic order and
I want Ireland to be positioned to take
full advantage of the opportunities that
will be presented.”
Maintaining a positive outlook he
spoke of first-class infrastructures and
the ‘best tax deals’. Yet he issued a word
of caution to those in the public sector,
suggesting that cuts in the sector would
be essential to ensure a more efficient
service.
“Particularly in the public service,

Oxford wins debating final in Cork
By Fearghus Brian Roulston &
Caroline O’Leary
6 TEAMS from 308 entries from more
than 40 countries who visited UCC to
take part in the 29th World Universities
Debating Championship this month.
With more than a thousand delegates
visiting the campus, the economic boost
to the Cork economy is estimated to
be as high as two million Euros. Conor
Healy, the Cork Chamber of Commerce
chief executive, was pleased with the
additional revenue brought in by the
competition, and its potential to raise
the global profile of Cork. “Education
tourism would generally be fairly low
at this time of year, so it’s a welcome
boost to the economy in that sense. But
it’s also of benefit in raising the profile
internationally of UCC and Cork as a
conference destination and that’s very
positive for the region.”
Hosted by the university’s Law
and Philosophical Society, the event
is the largest academic competition
in the world. It attracted teams from
all over the globe, including the US,

The Worlds final at Cork City Hall. Photo: Caroline O’Leary
Japan, Australia and Korea. Mark
Collins, director of registration and
communication for the event, felt that
Cork was honoured to have been chosen
to host the annual event.
“University College Cork was
selected to host the competition by the
World Universities Debating Council
at Vancouver in Canada in 2006 and

then that decision was ratified last year
at Bangkok in Thailand – so it’s a great
honour,” Mr Collins said.
The
event
has
increased
unrecognisably in scale in the past few
years with up to 78 debates before the
knockout stages. The decision to hold
the competition over the Christmas/
New Year’s break stems from the fact

that it is the only time in the year when
universities in both the northern and
southern hemisphere are on holidays
simultaneously.
After the gruelling group stages, 32
teams were chosen for the knockout
rounds, before a final four teams
competed in the final on January 3rd.
The teams were only informed of the
motion on which they would debate
fifteen minutes before the event.
The victorious Oxford team were
presented with a Waterford Crystal
replica of the Sam Maguire cup after
standing in opposition to the motion
“That this house would allow abortion
at all stages of pregnancy”. Mr Jones,
22, studies politics at Balliol College.
He said that although their experience
debating together in previous events
had helped, the motion was difficult to
discuss. “We knew it would be very hard
competing in the world championships
and we had a couple of lucky shots and
here we are.”
The two politics students had
previously won the event in Vancouver,
before missing out on last year’s final in

DEBATABLE FACTS
» UCC have history in the competition, winning it once in
1986, and hosting it previously
in 1995.
» The competition is judged by
a panel drawn from more than
300 adjudicators.
» Among the guests at the finals
were the president of UCC,
Dr Michael Murphy, and vice
president for the Student
Experience, Con O’Brien.
Bangkok. Both of the winners were full
of praise for the organising committee
in Cork and the standard of debate
they encountered. Ireland was wellrepresented this year with six teams
from University College Dublin, six from
Trinity, three from NUI Galway, two
from DCU and two from UL. However,
it was Oxford that left with the trophy
this year.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

Global
Campus

Two month
strike, no
end in sight

COLORADO, USA

York University in Toronto, Canada, has halted classes since Nov. 8th due to a union strike.
Neither side is conceding, and meanwhile
students “put their lives on hold” and wait
By Kasia Mychajlowycz
International News Editor
50,000 UNDERGRADUATE students in
Toronto, Cananda have not been in class
for 2 months, with some specualtion
as to whether they will be able to
complete their courses at all this year.
York University, located on a sprawling
campus just shy of the city’s northern
limits, has been locked in a battle with
a union representing the 3,400 faculty
members, teaching assistants and
graduate researchers who walked off
the job on November 8th due to failed
renegotiations of their contract with the
university’s administration.
Among the demands of the members
of the Canadian Union for Public
Employees local 3903 is an extension of
part-time contracts from eight months
to five years, a 10% wage increase across
the board, and a promise of more fulltime tenured positions for faculty to
replace those who will be retiring in the
near future.
Job security is a major part of the
union’s platform, but perhaps the most
contentious demand is that this contract
lasts 2 years, so that its expiration will
coincide with other university unions
in the province of Ontario, creating
the possibility of a province-wide strike
that would bolster unions’ bargaining
power.
Most recently, the university
administration has made a move to end
the strike in the next week by calling
on the Ontario Ministry of Labour
to supervise a forced vote by union
members on their latest offer, which
they made public last Wednesday, and
which the union tabled without bringing
it to a vote, with CUPE spokersperson

Tyler Shipley calling the offer “a step
back”.
The Toronto Star reported that
the offer included better job security
through more tenured positions, and a
0.7% increase in wages through benefits
such as childcare from previous offers.
According to labour laws in Ontario,
employees can demand that the Ministry
force union members to vote on one
offer during each bargaining round; in
2001, the same union went on strike for
11 weeks, and forced elections brought
about the agreement that ended that
dispute. Alex Bilyk, spokesperson for
York, said that the administration was
“I can no longer
aimlessly wait
for York to
figure out what
they are doing.”
-Amy Levy, BScN
forced to make this move after the offer
was rejected, and no counterproposal
was forthcoming. “We have students
out there who have put their lives on
hold for two months already,” he said
as he announced what the media have
been calling York’s “surprise move”.
Amy Levy, a 3rd year Nursing (BScN)
student at York, is one of those students
who has had her life ‘on hold’ along with
her studies. Because she couldn’t know
when the strike was going to end, she
has held off on getting a job, hoping
the strike would have been long over by
week 11.
Now, she says, she is “currently
looking for work because I can no longer
spend my days aimlessly waiting for
York to figure out what they are doing.
Not to mention, I am also looking for a

TEENS READY FOR REAL WORLD

new school.”
York has announced that there
will be no reading week, a week-long,
campus-wide break in February, and
that summer and fall exams will be on
compressed schedules this year and
next to try and compensate for lost
time. The school year could also stretch
into the summer, which would interfere
with Levy’s nursing placements, a
requirement for her degree, and would
make pursuing a higher education
that much more difficult for the many
students who rely on summer jobs to
financially carry them through the
academic year.
A few students have set up a group
called Yorknothostage.com, which
also has a Facebook group called the
Anti-Strike group. Their website reads
that this they represent the 4,000
students who have signed their petition
demanding an immediate resolution
to the strike, and has issued an open
letter to Labour Minister Peter Fonseca
to hold the forced vote at the earliest
opportunity.
Co-founder Catherine Divaris, a
5th year Kinesiology student, was
helping to prepare a “shot-gun rally”
for November 10th, 2 days after the
strike started, when she met the other
co-founder of Yorknothostage.com
Lyndon Koopmans and other students
who would eventually made up the
group. When asked about the content
of the Facebook sight, which includes
photos of graffiti on campus giving lewd
names to the teaching assistants and
other union members on strike, she

emphasized that the site’s intention is
to be a forum for students.
“Our group is for the student voice,
we try not to censor anybody unless it’s
really offensive,” she told Trinity News
in a phone interview. As for the forced
vote by the Ministry, she explains that
the union supporters “feel it takes away
their rights as a union, but we’ve been
waiting as students with no voice and
no say and they hadn’t even started
negotiation until last week. I don’t know
how much longer we’re meant to wait.”
As for accusations that the group
is anti-union, Divaris says, “We’re a
neutral group. We think both sides are
to blame.”
Despite the interruption to their
school year, many students are backing
the union and their right to strike, and
oppose any back-to- work rules from
the provincial legislature. They are
with union workers at the picket line,
and also support them by voicing their
frustration with the administration’s
priorities.
“It’s too bad that the York
administration is immune to rational
requests. They’d rather spend almost
200 million dollars on a BS 59th birthday
party for the university than [sic] fund
the producers of knowledge and wealth
in the school,” writes Scott McIver
Thorn, a 4th year Political Science and
Social and Political Thought student at
York. “I REALLY hope there is some
REAL negotiation SOON.” Thorn’s
Facebook status: “Fair Wages, Job
Security and Quality Education for the
New Year!”

By Jennifer Doyle
Staff Writer
FROM JUNE 1st this year, High Point
University in North Carolina will introduce a
ban on all tobacco products throughout the
campus. A small private liberal arts college
with an attendance of 2760 students, HPU
has decided to introduce the ban on smoking
and chewing tobacco after conducting a
survey in March last year. The survey, which
was completed online by over 1000 students,
showed that almost 70% were in favor of
banning all tobacco products from being
used on campus. This decision has recently
been upheld unanimously by the university’s
Board of Trustees and the process of making
the campus smoke free will begin in June at
the end of the academic year.
The process will begin with the rezoning
of designated smoking areas and removal
of smoking paraphernalia such as ashtrays.
On September 1st, when the students return
after the summer break, they will find fines
and sanctions in place for those caught
smoking on campus -this includes smoking
in cars parked within the college confines.
The result of these measures is that students
and staff who wish to smoke will be forced to
leave the campus in order to do so.
The Vice-President of student life at High

7

Point, Gail Tuttle, has welcomed the decision
to introduce the ban, saying that it reflects
the desires of students living on campus who
want ‘a living situation that is conductive
to healthy choices and clean air.’ Rachael
Parker, a sophomore at the university, is
delighted with the ban, saying that ‘there
won’t be cigarette butts’ spoiling the campus
any more.
In 1993, North Carolina State law banned
smoking in all state run buildings and in
2007, the legislature deemed it legal that
schools should be allowed to institute a ban
on smoking in areas up to 100 feet away
from school buildings. Bennet College was
the first such college to enact the law and
others have followed suit, with High Point
University being the 21st to do so. It has
been a success in many of the other colleges
and according to Kathy Carstens, Director
of Student Health Services at Greensboro
College, the ban prepares students for
a work environment where smoking is
prohibited. The majority of colleges who
have introduced the smoking ban have
also offered classes to help their staff and
students beat tobacco addiction. High Point
is following suit, offering smoking cessation
classes in spring and autumn of 2009 to
help the student’s transition to a smoke free
environment.

By Caitriona Murphy
Deputy International News Editor
DURING THE past weeks the world has been
exposed to increasingly shocking reports
from the crisis in the Gaza strip. With a
cease-fire looking increasingly unlikely, one
workers union in Canada has taken a drastic
measure – to ban all Israeli academics from
speaking, teaching or research work in
Ontario universities. Sid Ryan, president
of the Ontario arm of the Canadian Union
of Public Employees (CUPE) has this week
announced that the union will seek to pass
a motion banning Israeli scholars from
universities in the area. He stated that the
only way the ban would be lifted would be
if the scholars explicitly condemned Israel’s
actions in the Gaza strip - “We are ready to
say Israeli academics should not be on our
campuses unless they explicitly condemn
the university bombing and the assault on
Gaza in general,” In 2006 CUPE boycotted
all Israeli goods in a protest against the
‘apartheid’ wall.
However it would seem that not even
the Palestinians are in agreement with the
opinionated organization. The Palestinian
Al-Quds University in Jerusalem condemned
the ban, stating that it wished to ‘build
bridges not walls’ with Israeli scholars.

There has also been a strong backlash from
the Jewish community, with many labeling
CUPE as ‘bigoted’ and ‘anti-Semitic’. Ryan
sparked further debate by making an analogy
comparing the Israeli bombings of a Gaza
university to book-burnings during the Nazi
regime. However many Canadian scholars
have argued that though unfair, the ban is
not anti-Semitic. Michael Neumann of Trent
University stated that that in these extreme
circumstances, the proposal is ‘reasonable
and perhaps justified’. He argued that “It
targets Israeli, not Jewish, professors,” and
is therefore not anti-Semitic. Mira Sucharov,
a professor at Carleton University, agreed
that the proposal is not anti-Semitic but that
it is unacceptable -”Excluding someone is
fundamentally against the entire enterprise
of academia.”
This is not the first time that controversy
surrounding Israel and Canadian universities
has occurred. Currently, prestigious centres
of learning such as the University of Ottawa
and the University of Toronto host an annual ‘
Israeli Apartheid Week’ – a weeklong festival
of anti – Israel speeches and programs. Last
year the festival created such problems that
125 of the University of Toronto professors
took out an advertisement in the national
paper condemning the University’s support
of the week.

DESPITE THE current economic climate, a new
bank is preparing to opens it’s doors this year in
Carbondale, Colorado. However this is no ordinary
bank – the staff won’t even have graduated from
high school.
Non-profit organization Computers-for-kids,
based in Carbondale, is helping high school
students from the area set up their own exclusively
student-run bank. The organization has already
converted an old school building in the town
into a business centre for the students, featuring
conference rooms, flat-screen televisions and cybercafes. They hope that running a bank will give the
students a chance to learn how to manage their
money.
The venture was developed between Computersfor-kids and Alpine bank, who have set aside a
$25,000 grant to get the bank started. The students
themselves will run it, and groups from the local
high schools are determining all of the products
and marketing strategies. The bank will most likely
keep student hours, and will offer saving accounts
and debit cards. Kirsten McDaniel, executive
director of Computers-for-kids has been helping
students to develop the project. She notes that
already the students have made some interesting
insights into youth banking - they don’t support the
idea of giving out credit cards, feeling that young
people won’t be able to manage them properly.
McDaniel believes the venture will teach students
about key concepts in the banking world such as
compound interest, as well as helping them set their
own financial goals. She hopes that the experience
will help them make better choices in life.
Caitriona Murphy

UNIVERSITY GRENBOLE, FRANCE

TRINITY STUDENT ABROAD
SUNDAY. APART from the optional extra of going
to mass, Sunday in Ireland is virtually like any other
day of the week. Grafton Street still swarms with
tourists and window shoppers, closing time in the
pubs and nightclubs of the city will see the typical
amount of worse for wear students staggering into
Abrakebabra. It didn’t take too long to discover
that things aren’t quite the same chez les Francais
however. These hardworking people, who toil for
35 hours every week (with only a measly 2 hour
lunch to break the monotony of their day), take
the commands of our Lord to a new level on the
Sabbath. Everything is shut. If you want cigarettes
or a newspaper, then get yourself out of bed
before noon in order to take the brief window of
opportunity when the tabacs (French newsagents)
open for business. As for milk and bread, a failure to
prepare on Saturday afternoons means a bleak and
hungry end to the week.
As you’ve probably guessed, I’m writing this on a
Sunday. And yes I’m hung-over. After some terrifying
experiences of trying to survive the boredom of
Sunday afternoons in a state of sobriety, we quickly
decided that the best tactic is to go out on the razz
on Saturday nights and sleep right through the next
day. It’s slightly depressing that Monday mornings
have now become something we almost look
forward to, but us Irish aren’t the only ones affected
- whole books have been written on the subject by
bored and disillusioned frenchies themselves.
But I digress. There are six other days in the
week, and France hasn’t turned out to be all that
bad. Us Erasmus students are treated a bit like
mentally-challenged aliens - 12 hours of classes per
week, a distinct lack of homework and foolproof
guides to passing the exams posted online. As for
the language barrier, although some animated
lecturers have proved quite difficult to follow (we
managed to achieve the impressive feat of sitting in
the wrong tutorial for more than an hour during the
first week) le Francais has improved, although with
our class encompassing students from Germany,
Holland, Britain, Norway, USA, Canada, China and
even Turkey, English has become the common
language of communication. Whether this is a
blessing (for our sanity) or a curse (on our learning)
I’ve yet to decide.
So with Sundays and class time taken care of,
what does an Erasmus student in France do for the
other 132 hours every week? Well, if you’re a lycraloving weirdo like myself, you join the local cycling
club. Although it’s hardly the best sport for the street
cred, it passes the time, and with Grenoble dubbed
“the capital of the Alps” the scenery is spectacular.
For normal people however, the common student
hobby of alcohol consumption does exist over here
as well - even if the locals haven’t yet managed to
reach the level of perfection as the Irish. Bars close
at a measly half-one every night, and although clubs
generally stay open until five, you have to take out
a mortgage just to pay the entrance fee, let alone
get a drink. Cue the recession-time tactic of loading
up on unbelievably cheap supermarket beer before
even considering venturing out.
So it’s three months into Erasmus and its going
assez ok. France has its pitfalls (did I mention
Sundays?) but it also has it’s advantages. There’s
no snow yet, but skiing is only a month away. Until
then...
Domhnall O’ Sullivan

8

NEWS FEATURE

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

Count me in: your guide
There have never been more opportunities
to spend some time volunteering. The experince can very rewarding, as this week’s
RAG Week will prove, writes Niall Walsh

I

T’S THAT time of year again.
The t-shirts have arrived,
people are getting ready to lose
items of clothing in exchange
for money and dignity, and of
course, volunteers will be shaking
a bucket to try and raise much
needed funds for Trinity’s Volunteer
Societies. I’m talking of course, about
RAG Week. Trinity’s RAG Week is
unique in so far as the money raised
actually goes to supporting student
volunteering
initiatives
within
the college, as opposed to simply
fundraising for an outside charity.
Trinity has a long history of
volunteering and getting involved in
the local community. Throughout the
years, Trinity’s students have excelled
themselves in their capacity to effect
change in these communities. As time
has gone on, and as the gap between
the rich and the poor in Ireland has
grown, the role that students have
to play in bridging this gap has
become more and more important.
Trinity, in many ways, exists in a
sort of bubble, housing some of the
country’s brightest young minds
yet surrounded by some of the city’s
poorest communities.
This process has been picking up
speed in a big way over the last ten
or fifteen years and again, students
have been at the heart of it. Just as

the Saint Vincent De Paul Society was
created by a student in nineteenth
century France, Frederic Ozanam,
numerous initiatives, such as the
Voluntary Tuition Program and Suas,
have been created and driven forward
by Trinity students. If you look at the
massive amounts of people that both
of these organizations have benefited
it is incredible to think that these were
just ideas in the heads of students not
too many years ago.
One of the ways in which the
current crop of Trinity students
is attempting to bridge this gap is
through a focus on education. This is
an area in which huge inequality exists
in terms of opportunities available to
children; and the Vincent De Paul
Society, Suas, and the Voluntary
Tuition Program all have projects
dedicated to helping students from
disadvantaged areas reach their
potential.
The societies’ work in helping
students from both primary and
secondary schools and the impact
that they have, both in their capacity
as role models and in the practical
help they offer, is pretty astonishing.
Niall Walsh was head of Trinity
VDP in 2007-2008. He is currently
head of TVOF, an umbrella term for
voluntary organisations in Trinity.

SUAS at home and abroad

B

OTH SUAS (St Connell’s
School) and the Vincent
De Paul (St Enda’s and St.
Audeons Schools) send
volunteers almost every
day of the week to Homework Club’s
in primary schools located in the city
centre. These homework clubs are
run by parents and teachers in the
local community, who recognize how
difficult it is for these children to get
down to completing their homework
in the face of often unstable domestic
environments. The clubs run from 2.30
to 4pm – essentially keeping the children
in school an extra hour and a half, to at
least make a start on what they need to
have done for the next day.
Some of the clubs have as many as
60 children in one large room, and as
few as four parents and two teachers
to help. As such the role that Trinity
students have to play in providing one
to one assistance and guidance for the
kids is crucial and more importantly
they get to have a lot of laughs with
them along the way. The Vincent De
Paul also organized presents for the 150
or so children they deal with who are in
primary education and I personally was
lucky enough to attend the Christmas
Party, where the presents were given
out after the much more important, and
hotly contested, talent show was out of
the way.
While the practical impact may
not be easy to see from volunteering
with primary school children, it would

not be fair to say the same about the
work that Trinity students are doing
with secondary school students. Both
Suas and Vincent De Paul help out at
refugee centres in the city centre, and
provide help and assistance to Leaving
and Junior Cert students who are living
there, often completely separated from
their natural families.
At the VDP centre the volunteers
help in a broad range of subjects, from
Physics to English and from Maths
to Science. Volunteers at the Suas
centre, on the other hand, focus solely
on English language classes and their
help is on a completely one-to-one
basis, almost in the form of mentors.
The rapport which is built up between
students and volunteers over the course
of the year is a wonderful by-product of
the mentoring, and last year there was
even a St Patrick’s Day party thrown for
the refugees.
Another superb education based
project run by Suas is the Bridge
to College Programme, based in
Oriel House on Westland Row. The
programme provides students from
designated disadvantaged second-level
schools with an innovative technologymediated learning experience and was
established in 2007 with the help of the
Trinity Access Programme (TAP). The
main aim of the B2C is to demonstrate
the power of technology to facilitate a
dynamic, creative and cross-curricular
learning experience. The B2C is
designed to engage young people,

typically Transition Year students, in
creative, technology-mediated projects,
mentored by volunteers from the
Dublin based student Suas societies.
The programme trains its volunteers
with the necessary technology before
they begin mentoring so don’t worry if,
like me, you are not the most tech-savvy
person in the world.
It is truly remarkable that the Suas
society keep all these projects running
amidst all the fundraising work they do
for their overseas partners in India and
Kenya. The Suas movement, all told,
includes student societies all over the
country, and of course a head office, out
of which the entire organisation is run.
The Suas Trinity branch was one of
the first student societies set up and is
always heavily involved with the larger
Suas publicity and fundraising efforts.
They run many events with the aim
of advocating for multi-culturasim
in Ireland and also run Global Issues
seminars to inform students, and the
wider public, about the key issues in the
developing world.
Every year a huge fundraising drive
is set in motion by the larger Suas
organisation to raise crucial funds for
their primary and secondary school
partners in India and Kenya.
Suas Trinity get involved in organising
volunteer collectors for face painting
on the streets of Dublin on St Patrick’s
Day, run a Christmas collection in
the pubs around Dublin, among other
initiatives.

SUAS
» Suas runs diverse projects
such as the Bridge to College
(B2C), Refugee mentoring
and Homework Club among
others
» The B2C programme, organized in conjunction withe
the Trinity Access Programme
(TAP), is a cross curricular
learning experience, in which
volunteers from Suas based
societies get to work with
Transition Year students in
technological project.
» Suas also sends volunteers
to the Dublin Central Mission
on Abbey Street, to chat with
refugees in beginner English
classes, in an informal setting
» The Suas Volunteer Programme sends 80 students
abroad every Summer to volunteer in five partner schools,
based throughout Kenya and
India.
» Suas Trinity plays a crucial
role in fundraising for these
partner schools.

Trinity students share their knowledge

T

HE LEADERS in Trinity
when it comes to providing
voluntary
assistance
in education are the
participants in the Voluntary
Tuition Programme. The programme
was founded in the 1980s and since
then has grown exponentially, currently
helping over 300 primary and secondary
school students in the local community.
One huge reason for this growth was
the foundation of the Trinity Access
Programme in 1994. This initiative was
set up to attempt to make it easier for
students from poorer socio-economic
backgrounds to reach third level
education in Trinity. TAP has worked
with VTP to help them deliver their
programme and also helps fund the work
that they do. The programme is based
in four city centre locations: St Andrews
Resource Centre on Pearse Street;
Goldsmith Hall; Ringsend Technical
Institute; Pearse Area Recreation
Centre, and the children come from a
plethora of schools based all over the
city, ranging from Ringsend technical
to CBS Westland Row. The kids are then
paired up with student volunteers and
receive one-to-one tuition once a week
for the academic year.
The single best thing about VTP
though, is the continuity it offers for
the students who are involved, many of
whom lack such stability in their home
life. In many cases, pupils stay with the
programme from primary school to
Leaving Cert level, and have the same
tutor for several years.
F o r
the primary level,
particular
emphasis
is placed

on the younger children developing
numerical and literary skills in an
unthreatening and enjoyable way.
At secondary level, students request
specialist tuition in particular subjects,
whatever they feel they need help in.
The aim of the programme is not only
to improve academic performance, but
also to stimulate interest in learning, and
encourage the children to continue in
the education system. As well as catering
for primary, secondary school students
and refugees there is also a separate
project that aims to help facilitate kids
who are particularly high risk. In the
Parallel Programme volunteers spend
the first hour teaching the 13 secondary
school students involved and then have
the second hour free to take part in more
enjoyable activities like ice skating, rock
climbing or even a competitive five-aside game of football.
Both VTP and VDP have moved
to increase the number of fun-based
activities for the children in an attempt
to strike a balance for the kids and of
course to let them show their wacky,
creative sides. In 2007, the Vincent De
Paul set up Art,
Drama
and
Dance
Club’s
a n d
year
have
brought
this even
further
with
the
creation
of a Music

Club. The Dance Club is run with a
school just off Connolly Street and the
three other clubs are run in conjunction
with St. Enda’s Primary School. These
clubs have been hugely successful since
their inception and have gone down
really well with the kids, who always
seem keener on them than they do on
their homework! The Dance Club will
be putting on a show later this year and
then the Art, Drama and Music clubs
are coming to the Atrium in Trinity
on the 27th April to perform
for
any
interested
Trinity students. The
children’s parents
will of course also
be invited, but I
would thoroughly
urge you try and
make it along,
even if it is only to
relive your own
first experiences
with that most
complicated of all
instruments, the
tin whistle!
The Voluntary
T u i t i o n
Programme has
been developing
their own set
of
activities
since 2001. At
present
they
also have Art,

Drama and Music Clubs which take
place in St Andrews Resource Centre
and run along the same lines as the VDP
activities but take place, in contrast to
the VDP activities, in the evening. All of
these activities are run by one fantastic
volunteer, who also helps run homework
clubs and Music Clubs for Vincent
De Paul. This example highlights just
how hooked some people can get
on volunteering, and how much of a
difference one person can make to the
process. Suas also runs a programme
which tries to strike the work/life balance
in the volunteering that they do.
This term they have begun sending
volunteers up to the Dublin Central
Mission on lower Abbey Street to get
them to chat to refugees in beginner
English conversation classes. This
is an informal way to get involved,
and a great change to get to know
people from other cultures without
the pressure of an open
book in front
of you.

VTP

» The Voluntary Tuition Programme was founded in the
1980s and is currently working with 300 schools to offer
assistance in various aspects of
education
» VTP offers tutoring in
four different locations
around the city: St Andrews Resource Centre on Pearse Street;
Goldsmith Hall;
Ringsend Technical Institute; Pearse
Area Recreation
Centre and the students come form
a wide range of
schools

» It also runs Art, Drama and
Music clubs each week, to strike
a balance between educational
time and social time
» The Parallel Programme is
another component of VTP, as
it works with 13 secondary
schools students on a two
hour basis, again combining education and
recreation

NEWS FEATURE

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

9

to volunteering in Trinity
Where your RAG money goes

Kids from the Pearse Steet flats and volunteers from Trinity get acquainted with a fire engine

UNIQUELY AMONG Irish colleges,
all proceeds of Trinity RAG Week go
to college volunteer societies. These
societies fundraise throughout the year
to keep these activities going but the
money raised in RAG Week is a crucial
part of their funding for the academic
year. There is a huge amount going on
this Rag Week in terms of events, and
there will be bucket collections at the
vast majority of these so you will have
plenty of opportunities to donate. The
central point of fundraising will be the
Street Collections that will take place
on the Wednesday of RAG Week from
8am to 6pm and for this we really need
as many volunteers as possible so please
come to the stand in the Arts Block.
Vinny O’Mahony, one of the main
organizers of the street collections this
year and last year, stressed that this year
it was “more important than ever” to get
out and shake a bucket for the charities,
given the current economic climate.

“We hear all this talk of a recession
and people losing their jobs, etcetera,
but the people we are trying to help have
been living in poverty for the last fifteen
years, missing out on the prosperity
created by the Celtic Tiger”, he said.
“It’s vital that these people are not
forgotten as their plight is worse now
than it has ever been. The impact that
the Trinity volunteers have in helping
these people improve their standard
of living is immeasurable – so support
them and get out and shake it!”
All week there will be a Volunteering
Awareness Stand in the Arts Block with
further photos, information and sign
up sheets for all the societies available.
Please come and check it out as we are
always looking for new volunteers to
join us.
Also, keep an eye out for posters
during the week that are attempting to
raise awareness of the problems faced by
people in disadvantaged communities.

RAG WEEK
» All Rag Week proceeds go
the five volunteer societies involved in TVOF – which makes
it different to Rag Weeks of
other colleges around the
country
» Those who volunteer with
these societies get the opportunity to work on a practical level with students from
all backgrounds and could
potentially have the capacity
become role models

Spreading the joy with Vincent De Paul

A

LL OF the volunteer
societies make it their
priority to help people who
are, in many ways, on the
fringes of society, and the
huge variety of the projects in this area
mean there is something for everyone
who wants to volunteer. The VDP send
volunteers fortnightly to visit the elderly
and single parents, people who are often
marginalized and alone. This is a very
laid back form of volunteering, with
the students delivering fuel vouchers
and staying around for a quick chat and
even the customary cup of tea. A date
for your diary to note is the Annual (and
much belated) Christmas Party, which
takes place on the 29th of January in
the Dining Hall. This is always an event
to remember for the volunteers and of
course for the elderly themselves. With a
three course meal, a disproportionately
competitive raffle and some quality
dance moves on the agenda, you would
be crazy not to come along.
Every day the society also sends
volunteers to the Homeless Day
Centre on the quays and the
students help out in the
preparation of food
and have a bit of good
natured banter with
the
people
using
the facility, who are
often just looking for
someone to talk to.
Another group which
the VDP deals with
are young teenagers
from
disadvantaged
backgrounds.
These
teenagers are in many
ways never given a chance
to prove themselves by
society and as such the work
that is done by volunteers
at the Youth Club. Every
Thursday the volunteers
head up to the club and chill
out with the teenagers there,
playing the Playstation, some
pool, and even the odd game
of table tennis. Although the
lads might not show
it, they definitely
appreciate this
interaction with
the
Trinity
students and

inquire after volunteers when they don’t
show up. One of the most interesting of
VDP’s projects is Prison Soccer. Every
couple of weeks a team of Trinity’s finest
go in to Mountjoy prison to play a game
of 6-a-side football with the inmates - it’s
not for the faint hearted. The prisoners
certainly give as good as they get, but
at the same time, all is forgotten at the
final whistle and the guys always take
time to thank the volunteers for coming
in for the game. Unfortunately, for the
volunteers, a victory for Trinity has
never been recorded in living memory
but hopefully the current crop (and you)
can help right this wrong.
Another group in society that has
long faced difficulties are those with
intellectual disabilities. A massive
step forward in how this group was
viewed came with Ireland’s hosting of
the Special Olympics in 2003, but it
still remains difficult for people with
disabilities to advance themselves, or
express themselves, within
society. The main
advancements
in
VTP over the last
few years have come
about through the
move towards the
creation of specific
programmes
for
children with special
needs. They work in
conjunction with St
Augustine’s School
in Blackrock as well
as with children
with autism, Down

VDP
» Vincent de Paul (VDP) was
founded in the 19th century
by a French student, Frederic
Ozanam
» VDP’s activities include Trinity
Club, Homework Club, and Art
and Drama Clubs, Prison Soccer,
volunteering in the Homeless
Day Centre to name a few

Syndrome,
various
disassociative
conditions, right the way through to
children with severe learning disabilities
or social disabilities.
This has been a huge development
in the society, insofar as it has opened
up VTP to all sorts of new possibilities,
involving volunteer undergrads from
such diverse backgrounds as social work
and psychology and has also helped
move VTP towards some informal
integration of study and volunteering
which could have massive potential in
the future.
The Vincent De Paul also is involved
with helping people with mental
disabilities, but this is done in a much
more social context than in VTP. Trinity
Club is one of the oldest Vincent De Paul
activities and is also without doubt one
of the most enjoyable. The volunteers
meet the members at 6pm, Front Arch,
every Wednesday during term time
and then embark
on activities
such as DVD
nights,
pool, bingo
and even
t r i p s
out to

» Trinity Club runs all year involving 20 members and 20 volunteers, who participate in DVD
nights, games nights and trips
to places to outside Dublin
» The society also sends volunteers to Barrett Cheshire, a
home for people with physical
disabilities, to engage in some
recreational time
Stillorgan for a game of bowling. Every
year the twenty volunteers and twenty
members travel to an adventure centre
down the country for a weekend filled
with orienteering, kayaking, and lots
of laughs. This weekend, and indeed
the club in general, gives the members
an enormous sense of independence
as they are interacting with the Trinity
students as equals, and often bettering
them when it comes to the pool and
the bowling. This week look out for the
members (they make lots of noise so they
are not hard to miss) as they make their
way up Grafton Street, on the way to
see Cinderella in the pantomime at the
Gaiety Theatre. The TCDVDP also send
volunteers to Barrett Cheshire, a home
for people with physical disabilities,
playing board games
a n d
having a chat with
them.
Some
of these guys
will also be at
the Christmas
Party on the
29th, so you’ll
meet them if
you can make
it
along.
A m i d s t
all
this

volunteering that is going on outside
the college, it is often easy to forget all
the great work that Trinity students
are doing to help their peers. Trinity
can often seem like a daunting place
not only to those who are arriving
for the first time, but also for those
among us who find it difficult to adapt
in certain social situations. People
can begin to feel alienated from their
peers for a huge variety of reasons
but whenever they do Student to
Student(S2S) is always ready to step in
and help. Their student volunteers are
trained in counseling and then help
run services such as the one to one
peer support program that is currently
in place. Any student who is feeling
under pressure from college or home
life can email student2student@tcd.ie
or phone 01-8962438, and the coordinator will then set them up with a
student volunteer for free confidential
advice and support. The society also
moderates a mental health discussion
board online, runs training programmes
in listening skills for the student body
and also volunteer with the Student
Union on Welfare campaign’s such as
mental health awareness week and
SHAG Week.
S2S also have a massive impact on the
immediate welfare of incoming Trinity
students. This year their focus has been
on students of the Sciences and those in
Trinity on Erasmus. There is no doubt
that the role they’ve played in helping
these students adapt to the Trinity
environment has been invaluable,
and much appreciated. The students
are matched up with mentors who
know their way around, and they
are their first point of contact when
they arrive in the college. Next year
S2S hope to mentor every
incoming
home
and
international student to
the college, so they need
as many volunteers
as physically possible.
Another
initiative
which often goes under
the radar at Trinity is
the
work
done
b y

the Trinity branch of the Free Legal
Advice Centre (FLAC). FLAC is a nongovernmental voluntary organisation
which provides free legal advice to
those who would not otherwise be able
to afford it. At the heart of FLAC’s
existence is a concern that the law be
accessible to all in society, not just to the
privileged few. All too often, it is exactly
those with most difficulties gaining
access to the legal system who are the
most in need of it to vindicate their legal
rights.
FLAC TCD is a student society which
has at its core a legal advice clinic for
all Trinity students, where they can
speak directly to a qualified solicitor.
This clinic runs on a regular basis
throughout the academic year. It also
aims to heighten awareness of access
issues, especially those of students, and
the need for reform of the current legal
aid system. Of course, it would not be
fair to write an article on volunteering
and not include the brilliant work done
by the Vincent De Paul’s Kids Clubs. The
society sends volunteers to the MyWorld
Kids Club just off and then completely
runs a separate kids club for the children
in the Pearse Street flats. These flats are
literally less than a minute from Trinity’s
Sports Centre and as such provide a
perfect example of how volunteering is
going about bridging two communities
that, while in close physical proximity to
one another, couldn’t be further apart.
Every Sunday volunteers from Trinity
meet at the Pearse St flats and then
bring about twenty or so kids out for the
day. Past excursions have included trips
to the aquarium, the cinema, walks up
to Bray head and even a recent incidentfilled day out at Funderland! The
current leaders of the club have been
working hard to get new volunteers,
without whom their good work is
impossible - I hope that anyone reading
this
will consider offering
their help for
one of these
g r e a t
projects.

10

FEATURES

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

Everyone
in it for
Ethiopia
Two Trinity students have set up an innovative development project in Ethiopia. Catherine McCabe describes their successes, aims
and visions and the hippy festival fundraiser.

W

E HAVE all felt it at
some stage in our lives.
You’re mid sitcom,
listening to the pithy
dialogue of an episode
you’ve seen a thousand times over when
suddenly your lukewarm entertainment
is interrupted by an add break. The
screen is filled with poignant images
of emaciated children, grief stricken
mothers and murky drinking water.
Guilt begins to swarm over you faster
than scabies. Suddenly you remember
that you negated that standing order of
5 euro leaking out of your bank account
to concern, that you had a sneaky bag
of crisps during your 24 hour fast, that
you joined several St. Vincent de Paul
clubs and never attended, that you
never bothered sending that Amnesty
International plea letter.
Some of us are more susceptible to
that creeping sinking guilty feeling and
have fallen at the mercy of another cruel
mistress-charity collections. It’s enough
to make you cringe, that memory of
standing by the church/main street/shop
front, knuckles frozen and red with your
hand clasped around a crude plastic
charity box, a hole gored into its surface
with scissors. Over and over you’d shout
“help the ‘insert unheard charity here’”,
until your voice went hoarse and the
rain had seeped through your mac in a
sac. Your heart leapt with every single
clinking sound, even though the only
previous donations had been your own
in the hopes of getting the ball rolling.
It is experiences like this that have left
the youth disheartened when it comes
to charity, most opting for pseudo-aid
in the form of volunteer tourism. So
many students have succumbed to this
ever growing trend, organising endless
streams of bag packing, marathon
running and table quizzing fundraising
events in the hopes of generating even a
quarter of the funds needed.
In many cases, over 1,000 euro of
their own earnings are then bundled
up and offered to internet sourced
organisations that provide hassle free
volunteer tourism-packages. This, at
times, involves flying them over to lay
three bricks a day in some unknown
part of the world with room and board.
Some even factor in a beach holiday for a
well deserved rest. Of course the people
that go on these life changing ventures
are well intentioned. Regardless, when

organisations are using the bulk of
donations for ‘administrative costs’
one has to wonder whether this well
intentioned ‘difference’ is really being
made.
Three enterprising young girls have
gone one step further, rebelling against
this growing trend to provide something
life changing, not for themselves, but
for others. These ladies have not simply
sat idly whilst ‘contributing’ monthly
to a cause. They created a cause. This
is better known as the innovative
Ethiopian development project, Gach
Duine.
The Gach Duine organisation was first
established by Trinity’s own student and
volunteer entrepreneur, Rachel O’Brien
in early 2008, following her preceding
visits to Ethiopia. During her time
there, Rachel recognised the acute need
for community based development. We
can all recall the charity-style proverbs
cited on various advertisements calling
for aid in Africa, “Give a man a fish and

“Gach Duine aims
to incite gradual and
sustainable community
based change, acting
directly in specific rural
areas of Ethiopia.”
he will eat for a day, give a man a net
to fish with and he will eat for the rest
of his life”. Gach Duine has taken this
concept and run with it. The project
recognises the reality that injecting
endless funds and providing tangible
aid to a country such as Ethiopia will not
provided sustainable improvement.
Gach Duine isolates its input to
specific rural areas in Ethiopia where
it aims to incite gradual and sustainable
community based change. Rather than
becoming passive recipients of aid, Gach
Duine aims to empower the inhabitants
of these communities to become actively
involved in its development. Such
developments will include educational
centers to house educational training
programs providing training for women
and children on subjects such as
personal advocacy.

A women’s group that Gach Duine work with. Photo: Alice Clancey
Rachel’s vision for Gach Duine was
shared by her friend Grace Kearney,
a Primary school teacher who had
collaborated with her on previous
volunteer projects based in Ethiopia in
2006.
Grace became involved in the
foundation of Gach Duine and is now its
Assistant Director. The final addition to
the spearheads of the Gach Duine team
was Claire Griffin, Trinity student, who
operates as the secretary of Gach Duine
and has been involved in the process of
its development since mid 2008.
Borrowing its title from our own
native tongue, Gach Duine strives to
provide empowerment and equality for
its translation, “Everyone”. The project
is based in the rural Bale region of
Ethiopia.
The primary area that Gach Duine
have been working within is the village
named Adaba. In this village the lack
of basic services such as education,
health, shelter and food is preventing
development socially, economically and
culturally. The current focus of Gach
Duine is to help the inhabitants of Adaba
create indigenous growth through the
construction of a community centre,
library, IT training centre and sports
facilities. The initial stages of this
process began in June 2008 and recently
phase one of the project the community
centre was completed.
Gach Duine is working in a
partnership with a local Ethiopian
NGO, HWCA. The HWCA (Hope
for Women and Children) has set up
dedicated women’s groups in the Bale
region. These groups, working on the
idea of a cooperative system, have seen
the women start saving schemes with
the intention of using their money to
further their domestic industry. The
groups have provided the women
with a focus in their lives as they work

towards personal empowerment. The
main use for the recently constructed
community centre will be the housing of
the women’s groups’ weekly meetings.
Gach Duine has also been involved in
the funding of training for local elders
in the promotion of women’s rights
through the local women’s office.
The aim of the programme was to
ensure that even women in the most
remote areas of this mountainous
region were educated about their rights
and entitlements regarding their health
and education according to Ethiopia
and international law. In a country
that still experiences female genital
mutilation, programmes like this are
vital if such destructive practices are to
be eradicated.
In Adaba the Gach Duine members,
never ones to hide behind desks and
admin work, oversaw the construction
of the community centre, building their
concept into a reality brick by brick.
Although Rachel, Grace and Claire quite
clearly have more moral fibre than Pope
Benedict’s smalls, they are adamant
that it is the community members
developing their own source of aid. The
project in Adaba has the full support of
local government and is the first legal
project of its kind in the region. They are
the catalysts to the project itself but true
to the ethos of the organisation, all the
manual work is completed by employed
local labourers. As eloquently outlined
by Ms. Griffin, “our main focus is not
to establish projects that will remain
dependent on Gach Duine’s support in
the long-term instead we see ourselves
as facilitators of change. Helping local
people to set-up and organise structures
or educational training programmes
that they will themselves eventually be
in charge and control of. “
The most endearing thing about
this program is its core value of

The Community
Centre. Photo:
Dara Munnis

independence. Unfortunately, for most
of us, raised amongst the ‘drop the debt’
generation, dependence is something
which we heavily associate with the
third world. Dependence on the west for
food, money, medicine, contraception,
even arms. In fact, whenever the sullen
subject of Africa arises, the smug mugs
of Geldof, Bono and Sarandon are
more likely to spring to mind than the
distressing images of the Ethiopian
famine victims. It is hard to avoid
cynicism when after so many years of
so many millions being relentlessly
pumped into the continent, our screens
are flooded with those familiar images
and the same old message about the
people in need. It’s difficult to feel
anything but disheartened when you
realise that the 50 pound you once
implored your parents to send to comic
relief probably went towards a shiny
new Kalashnikov for a child soldier.
The real significance of Gach Duine

Stewart, has become somewhat of a
guiding sovereign for the small festival
organiser, offering the venue free of
charge in support of Gach Duine’s cause.
SHAKEFEST shares its home with the
ever growing Castlepalooza nominated
for best European festival within the
UK festival awards of 2008.
But the best news is yet to come, this
hippy-hectic-electric shakedown will
cost you no more than 40 euro, with
over half the proceeds of every ticket
going towards Gach Duine’s structural
community developments in the Bale
region of Ethiopia. Not only does that
40 euro ensure a weekend funfest
of music and dance workshops, it all
leads to a weekend camping, frolicking
bonfires and non-stop sessions. The
workshops range from belly dancing,
disco dancing, hip hop and salsa. For the
percussion-heads a non-stop drumming
circle is on offer. On the Friday night,
Gach Duine promises a fiery welcome

SHAKEFEST, set in the gothic splendour of
Charleville Castle, Co. Offaly, is a funfest of music
and dance workshops. Think strumming a three
stringed guitar, think twirling your midriff to the
sound of panpipes til dawn, think of pounding an
African drum and dancing barefoot to the beat,
think befriending cheese makers with matted hair
is that it leaves all these things behind,
its community focus promotes a more
positive outlook on Ethiopia. This
outlook moves away from peoples past
perceptions of this country, a perception
of helplessness and fatalism. It allows
for tangible constructive changes to be
made. Not only that but it allows for a
creation of mutual trust, not simply
between its founders and villagers but
also between the Gach Duine members
and the greater college community.
I say this because, as we all know, no
charity is complete without its inevitable
counterpart, fundraising.
However, being the worldly women
that they are, Rachel, Grace and Claire
have realised that for us insolvent
students, parting with the final 10 euro
in our bank account for nothing in return
is just too heartbreaking. The girls know
this pain all too well and so they swapped
bag packing for the whimsical, ethnic,
electric musical extravaganza known
as SHAKEFEST. The fest is set for the
May bank holiday weekend 2009 to be
held in the gorgeous gothic splendour of
Charleville castle, Tullamore, Co.Offaly.
True to its title, SHAKEFEST offers
not only raucous marquee music but
a weekend of midriff gyratory with its
famed belly dancing workshops.
Hoards of weekend summer fests are
helping to dot Ireland’s landscape with
poorly pitched tents, stray guitars and
warn out bodies of militant sessioners.
But if you ask me when it comes to
the weekend fest, if it is small scale
and unexpected, you can pretty much
guarantee to lose your shoes and have a
damn good time.
What is unique about this summer
weekend is that it offers an ethnic slant
without forcing the new-agey dream
catching and incense burning down
your throat. Although, if its hemp skirt
swaying and dread rolling you seek, it
won’t disappoint. The concept of the
fest began with the ‘Shake movement’
at Charleville in 2006. Terri Dale is the
principal organiser behind the Shake
movement Read and has been the
volunteer administrator at Charleville
Castle since 2005. The ever inspiring
owner of Charleville castle, Dudley

complete with flaming poi swirling and
an outdoor BBQ. The lineup is still to be
fully confirmed but so far counts IAMA,
Eric Noone, Lauren Guillery, Will
Softly, and The Aunty among the many
acts set to perform for the SHAKEFEST
masses. The capacity of the fest itself is
expected to be anywhere between 8001000. That’s just big enough so that
you’ll need to leave a trail of quavers
leading to your tent so you can find it in
a midnight haze but still small enough
that you can still bump into that hot
belly dancer dressed as Pocahontas.
So when you sit slumped on your
couch, guiltily watching the news whilst
balancing a pot noodle on your belly
and thinking “what can I do”. Don’t
automatically thinking about shaking
a plastic money box in the rain. Think
strumming a three stringed guitar by
the bonfire, think twirling your midriff
to the sound of panpipes until dawn,
think tent hopping, think about making
war paint from the bonfire charcoal,
about leaving your friends and family
to join a belly dancing colony, think of
pounding an African drum and dancing
barefoot to the beat as mud squishes
through your toes, think befriending
cheese makers with matted hair and
never seeing them again, think new,
exciting music, think of the fun side to
charity, think SHAKEFEST.

SHAKEFEST INFORMATION
SHAKEFEST will be held on
Friday the 30th to the 31st of
May 2009
It offers a mix of music,
dance culture and camping (with
hot showers and free outdoor
BBQ) all for €40
More information can be
found on the SHAKEFEST and
Gach Duine websites:
www.shakefest.net
www.gachduine.org

FEATURES

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

Winter in the Wakhan

11

What legal
rights can
you expect
as a tenant?
FREE LEGAL ADVICE CENTRE
If you pay rent to a landlord for the use of
accommodation or property you are a tenant.
The following is a general overview of your
rights, duties and obligations as a tenant,
however, if you are living with your landlord you
are not covered by landlord/tenant legislation.
• Can my landlord enter my accomodation?
There is a right to peaceful and exclusive
occupation of the dwelling outlined in the Act.
Nobody, including the landlord, has the right
to enter accomodation without permission.
• Can I hold gatherings / parties in my
accomodation?
You are entilted to entertain and to invite guests
to stay unless it is stated at the start of the tenancy
and provided it does not interfere with the your
neighbour’s peaceful enjoyment of their premises.
Your landlord has no right to forbid anything you hold.

The Wakhan Corridor allows no time for Autumn. Thomas Wilde describes why the bitterly cold, mountainous temporary villages
are welcome respite from the killing in Kabul

W

INTER BROUGHT me
to the Wakhan.
My
little propeller plane
was buffeted on its
breath through Afghanistan’s central
mountains. It set me down at Faizabad
on the Russian-built landing-strip; a
rust-red corrugated iron platform that
rattled like mad and woke me up to a
colder air. I had come here to watch
Winter arrive in the Wakhan, but it felt
like it was already watching me.
The Wakhan Corridor stretches like
an incriminating finger out of the NorthEastern corner of Afghanistan towards
Tajikistan, Pakistan, and China. It is
a product of late 19th century British
paranoia- an area designed to act as a
buffer to any Russian imperial aims on
India. It is also one of the most remote
and beautiful places in the world: snowcapped mountain passes, deep smooth
valleys, milky melt-water rivers.
It is a harsh land and the people who
work it are hard people- Wakhi farmers
and herders graze their animals all the
way up the valleys, before they give
way to the last Kyrgyz in Afghanistan, a
nomadic group of lost lotus-eaters in the
fertile grasslands of the Afghan Pamir.

“I started suffering
from the altitude and
was soon dizzy and
nauseous. I collapsed
in the next village and a
blanket was thrown over
me to keep the snow
off. I woke up retching.
It was well below -10
and I was weak.”

dust and dirt of Kabul’s fading city,
couldn’t get enough of it.
Our second day saw a deep rivercrossing where the cold took the curses
out of our mouths. Another steep climb
took us into the Wakhi Valley. Here,
small villages of five or so stone-built
houses huddle on the lip of the grasses.
We drank salty yak’s butter tea that I’ve
never had a taste for- it reminds me too
much of the salt water I was given to
make me throw up when I was nauseous
as a child.
The village leader was a bombastic
round fellow who slapped our backs,
laughed at our clothes, and was made
for winter. He was leaving the next
day for winter quarters in the opposite
direction. We carried on, with glimpses
of rich powdered snow on our right. Yaks
grazed together with fatty-bottomed
sheep that move like overweight joggers.
That night we slept in a yurt in a small
Wakhi village under thick blankets and
heard the snow gently falling.
The temperature dropped with the
snow. The valley was now blazing white
under a cold sun, and I was cursing
forgetting any shade for my eyes. I
started suffering from the altitude and
was soon dizzy and nauseous. I collapsed
in the next village, and a blanket was
thrown over me to keep the snow off.
I slept fitfully until the next morning,
and woke up retching. It was well below
-10 and I was weak. I needed to get to
a lower altitude and unfortunately that
day held a big pass through thick snow.
We were forced to go back and find a
different route.
We left with the villagers who had
packed up their lives into bags and

were heading down. The women were
wearing their best scarlet clothes, and
riding prize yaks. The young sons rode
donkeys and the sag-i-jang dogs ran
ahead on guard; huge animals that act
as watchdogs for the villages and are
bred for their strength and aggression.
As we dropped altitude I felt my
strength returning. Villages on the
other hand that had been full of life
the day before were now empty shellsthe exodus down the mountains was in
full swing and we were going with the
current. A few guards watched some
of the sheep that remained- one nine
year old boy I met owned 400 of them;
his father was dead, the boy now a rich
man.
Lower down, the valleys had escaped
the snow and had a thick carpet of
grass. Eagles and ‘wind-eaters’ skirted
the mountains gashed with purple.
This purple, Malang told me, is from
the blood of a dragon slain in a village
a few miles west. At Langar one could
have been in the Yorkshire Dales in
mid-summer- green vales surrounded
by dark soft slopes- and only the snowpeaked tops in the background, leading
to Pakistan, giving away one’s true
location.
A long day’s walk brought us to Kasch
Goz, the first Kyrgyz settlement and the
gateway to the Little Pamir and its fertile
grazing ground. It’s an exposed place at
the mercy of biting winds and we soon
found shelter in their guesthouse with
an old wood burner in the centre that
smoked more than it warmed.
We shared the guesthouse with a
couple of traders who claimed to be
‘prospecting’ for sheep, although their
bags full of pipes gave away their game.
Opium has become a serious problem
up in the Wakhan- Ted Callaghan,
an American anthropologist who is
spending winter up here, told me
that 90% of the population of Sarhad
Boroghil were addicts, and the cost
of the habit is slowly destroying the
Kyrgyz herd numbers as they are forced

to sell to feed their addiction. The
traders were particularly unimpressive;
one introduced himself to me as
‘Sultan’ Muhammed and proceeded
to rail against our guide for his lack
of education, and inability to read the
Qur’an.
I couldn’t stomach this, and asked
him in Arabic how his reading was. This
quietened him down for a few minutes
(very few Afghans understand Arabic)
until he got his revenge by bellowing
his prayers in my ear at three-thirty the
next morning.
That morning was market day,
and the place was swarming with
magnificent sheep and goats with fine

The Wakhan
Corridor. Photo:
Imran Schah

“Far from cowed by the weather,
the Kyrgyz and Wakhi thrive in it.
The Wakhan has largely escaped
the fighting that scars the rest of
Afghanistan. Bleak winter seemed
infinitely preferable to Kabul’s dusty
compound existence.”

• Who is responsible for maintenance and
repair?
Your landlord is responsible for maintenance
of the dwelling and repair due to ordinary wear
and tear. Wear and tear is defined as the loss
or deterioration due to ordinary, everyday use.
Example, the wearing of the carpet in a traffic area.
All maintenance problems should be brought to
the landlord’s attention. If he/she does not carry
out the necessary repairs within a reasonable time
limit (e.g. a day or two for running water and heating
issue, a few weeks for a dodgy door) then you can
hire appropriate services to rectify the situation
and be reimbursed by your landlord for the cost.
• Should my landlord keep a record of my rent
payments and documents?
Your landlord should record all rent payments
in the rent book. It is your landlord’s
responsibility to give you a rent book
• What if I am late paying my rent?
You have an obligation, as a tenant, to pay rent
and any other charges on time. If you fail to do
so, the landlord may seek redress with the PRTB.
• Is an oral agreement with my landlord a valid
lease?
An Oral Contract of Tenancy is as good as a written
contract of tenancy in terms of the general rights and
obligations of a tenant. A written agreement is still
preferable as it clarifies many issues for both parties.

curled horns.
High up here, several thousand
meters above sea level, several days walk
from the nearest permanent settlement,
and well-below zero, the place was
busy with life. Far from cowed by the
weather, the Kyrgyz and Wakhi thrive
in it.
It seems, in fact, that the harshness
of those elements is one of the Wakhan’s
greatest elements; it has largely escaped
the fighting that scars the rest of
Afghanistan, and certainly provided me
with a welcome respite from Kabul’s
dusty compound existence.
Indeed, returning to a Kabul where
three suicide attacks had killed tens of
people in the last few days, Wakhan’s
bleak
winter
seemed
infinitely
preferable to a city so unsure of itself.

• Can my landlord increase my rent by any
amount?
Landlords cannot charge more than the open market
rate for the apartment or house, which is defined
as the rent that a willing tenant would give and a
willing landlord would take for vacant possession
having regard to the tenancy terms and the letting
values of dwellings of a similar size, type character
and located in a similar area. Your landlord cannot
review the rent more than once a year unless
the accommodation has changed substantially.
Your landlord has the right to review the rent
annually. However your landlord must give you at
least 28 days notice (in writing) before increasing
the rent. If there is any dispute about the amount
of rent or about arrears of rent, either side can refer
the dispute to the PRTB. You must contact the PRTB
before the date the new rent comes into effect or
within 28 days of getting the notice, whichever is later.

Wakhan
I wanted to come here as summer
turned to winter. It is a quick change.
There’s no time for autumn to prepare
our fingers and set our stores in order.
Driving to the mountains, the fields
were full of wheatsheaves tied in the old
English manner. Men were threshing
under a hot sun. However, by evening
the temperature plummeted and
we were soon looking up at the sky
expectantly for the snow to come.
It did not take long. Our first days
walking- a steep uphill climb over the
Daliz pass and then a long gradual
descent into a valley cut by a fast-flowing
stream- was interrupted by a blizzard
that caught us unawares. The Wakhan
is an inhospitable place when the wind is
whipping the snow through the valleys
and the temperatures are falling to -15
or more. Yet these last dying days of
summer allowed for patches of brilliant
sunshine, mid-day warmth, and a light
that could be intensely pure and bright.
The interplay of bright sunshine and
bitter cold was mirrored in the Wakhan’s
mix of barren landscape and vegetationsnow-sprinkled peaks loomed over
slate-cracked paths coloured with the
oranges, reds, and yellows of buckthorn,
rosehips, and willow.
One wakes early in the Wakhan. The
whole of the Wakhan lies above 2000
metres and the air feels deliciously
rarefied. My lungs, more used to the

• Where to go if you feel your rights are being
infringed?
If you feel your rights as a tenant have been infringed,
you do have some methods of redress. In the case
of disputes regarding private tenancy agreements,
you may take your case to the Private Residential
Tenancies Board (PRTB) who provide a dispute
resolution service for the private rented sector.
Landlords must register each tenancy with the PRTB.

• Could I lose my deposit?
Tenants may lose their deposits if they do not
give proper notice or leave before the end of the
term agreement; they damage the landlord’s
property over and above normal wear and tear
or; they have left bills unpaid or rent owed.
You should also check your letting agreement
for more specific arrangements. Your landlord is
prohibited from seizing your goods as a means of
enforcing payment of rent without a court order.
• When can my landlord terminate my tenancy?
Landlords can ask tenants to leave without giving
a reason during the first six months of a tenancy.
Landlords can terminate a tenancy that has lasted
between six months and four years only in the
following circumstances: If the tenant does not
comply with the obligations of the tenancy. If
the property is no longer suited to the tenants’
needs (e.g. overcrowded). If the landlord needs
the property for him/herself or for an immediate
family member. If the landlord intends to sell
the property. If the landlord intends to refurbish
the property. If the landlord plans to change the
business use of the property (e.g. turn it into offices).

The Wakhan
Corridor marked
on the map.
Public domain
map: CIA

• How much notice should my landlord give me
if he wants to terminate the tenancy
If you have a term tenancy, your landlord is tied to
that. However, if he wants you to leave the dwelling
for not complying with your tenancy obligations,
your landlord must give you at least 28 days notice.
(Where there is serious anti social behaviour or
which threatens the property then your landlord
can give 7 days notice.)

12

WORLD REVIEW

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

INDIA AND PAKISTAN

Peace process on a knife edge
What lies ahead for Indo-Pakistani relations
following the November terrorist attacks on
Mumbai, asks Alison Spillane?

P

OLITICAL PRESSURE on
the Pakistani government,
predominantly from India,
the U.S, and Britain, has
been
unrelenting
since
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
announced that Lahore-based group
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are behind the
terrorist attacks carried out in Mumbai
at the end of November 2008. The
Pakistani government, who pledged
their full cooperation to their Indian
counterparts during the attacks, does
not seem to be following through on
this promise. So far they have refused
to extradite suspects in the attacks,
maintaining that no extradition treaty
exists between Pakistan and India. They
have also made the decision not to ban

“I presume they are
state actors or stateassisted actors”
the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a front for
LeT, despite UN sanctions classifying
the outfit as a terrorist organisation
and naming four of its top commanders
terrorists.
A breakdown in communication
is evident as Islamabad claims it has
not been given any clear evidence
implicating suspects such as Jamaatud-Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammad
Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba operations
commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in
the attacks. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister
Shah Mahmood Qureshi has made
a slight concession, indicating that
Indian authorities may be permitted
to question the suspects in Pakistan
if sufficient evidence is provided.
However, for the Indian government
this appears to be too little too late.
On January 4 India’s Home Minister
Palaniappan Chidambaram told NDTV
news channel: “Somebody who is
familiar with intelligence and who is
familiar with commando operations
has directed this operation, and that
cannot entirely be a non-state actor. In
fact, I presume they are state actors or
state-assisted actors unless the contrary
is proved.” This is a severe escalation
in the accusations against the country
as Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari
has maintained throughout that the
perpetrators of the attacks were nonstate actors. Mr. Chidambaram’s
suspicions are not completely unfounded
though, as links have been found
between the LeT and Pakistan’s Inter-

Services Intelligence in the past. The
CIA,too,has been accused of funding the
LeT in the 1980s to fight against Soviet
Union forces in Afghanistan, although
at a time when the U.S is giving its full
support to the Indian government this
point is not being raised. It seems that
links between the LeT and previous
Pakistani governments are more
relevant in the present climate than
their connections with previous U.S
administrations. Mr. Chidambaram
travelled to Washington last week to
share with U.S officials evidence linking
Pakistan to the Mumbai attacks.
With regard to the JuD, Pakistan’s
refusal to ban the organisation may
seem unreasonable. Yet after the
sanctions were imposed by the UN
Security Council, Hindu minority groups
in the country came out in support of
the group. The JuD’s charity work is of
vital importance to Muslims and Hindus
alike, and the group reportedly played
a major role in helping the victims
of the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake in
which more than 70,000 people died.
Yousaf Raza Gillani’s government took
initial steps to crack down on the JuD’s
activities after the UN ban; they placed
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed under house
arrest, closed the organisation’s offices
and froze its bank accounts. However,
none of the five hundred Jamaat-run
schools and seminaries were touched.
As for Amir Ajmal Kasab, the sole
surviving gunman, a senior Pakistani
official has doubted the authenticity
of a letter purportedly written by
Kasab while in the custody of Indian
Pakistan’s
leadership
has denied
involvement in
the attacks
authorities. The letter allegedly sought
legal assistance from the Pakistani
government,
although
Pakistan’s
Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah
claimed the language and content of
the letter did not “match those of a real
Pakistani”. The letter also requested
a meeting with the Pakistan High
Commission and stated that the nine
other terrorists, all killed in the attacks,
were also from Pakistan. Islamabad
has been reluctant to acknowledge
that Kasab is a Pakistani citizen, even
though he has been traced back to the
village of Faridkot in Pakistan’s Punjab
province where his father identified him
by a photograph.
It is clear that tensions are running

‘They had both a
weariness of violence and
the pragmatism needed
to get on with their lives’
Martin McKenna travelled to New Delhi
a week after the attacks in Mumbai ended. Here he shares his view of the Indian
reaction to the attacks.
The Taj Mahal hotel burns during the attack.
high between the two countries but
what lies ahead if the present state of
misinformation and miscommunication
continues? Pakistan is naturally on
the defensive, seeing Indian demands
as unreasonable unless they are
prepared to share more information
with Islamabad. Moreover, they see
the pressure from New Delhi as a
means for invoking nationalism and
distracting the Indian people from
their own government’s failures. India
in turn sees the Pakistani reaction as
unwillingness to cooperate, implying
they may have something to hide. And
though India may appear to be fingerpointing, history justifies their response
to some extent as Pakistani militants
have carried out numerous attacks in
India such as the 2006 bombings in
Varanasi in which 28 people died. There
is an evident lack of trust between the
two states, despite the ongoing peace
process. War may very well be on the
cards once more, despite Indian PM
Manmohan Singh’s assertions to the
contrary. Pakistan has cancelled all army
leave, and the Indian government is
facing serious domestic pressures from
voters (who will go to the polls by May)
who are angered by what can only be
seen as serious internal intelligence and
security failures. A strong response to
the Mumbai attacks could do a lot to ease
voters’ concerns. The presence of the
United States may be the only restraint
as with U.S interests in Afghanistan it is
unlikely the Americans would allow the
situation to escalate to such a level that
would involve Pakistani troops being
withdrawn from the Western border.

In order for the India-Pakistan peace
process to continue in the aftermath
of the Mumbai attacks it would benefit
both countries to take stock of their
own failures before putting the blame
on their neighbours. Pakistan may feel
victimized but until it stops turning a
blind eye to the activities of all Islamic
militant groups in the country it cannot
maintain its innocence. Successive
governments have failed to curtail
Taliban activities in the west of the
country and India will continue to
see the Pakistani administration as
complicit in terrorist attacks such as
those in Mumbai while it allows groups
like LeT to operate on its soil. India, for
its part, needs to recognize the presence
of disaffected Muslim youth within its
own borders.
The outlawed Student Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI) has been
behind numerous bombings and their
activities have intensified in recent years.
Many SIMI activists are suspects in the
2008 bombings in Bangalore and Delhi.
The Indian Mujahideen, an amalgam
of SIMI and LeT, also appeared on the
scene in 2008 claiming responsibility
for the Jaipur bombings on May 13 in
which 63 people were killed, as well
as bombings in Ahmedabad on July 26
where 56 people died.
Furthermore, Manmohan Singh’s
government needs to seriously reassess
its intelligence and security set-up if it
is to prevent other such attacks in the
future. But with neither country willing
to be introspective, the gloves are
coming off and the scar of partition is
far from healed.

Shooting an elephant
Pakistan and India are being goaded into an
unwanted war, says Aaron Mulvihill, World
Review Editor

N

OBODY HAD heard of
the Deccan Mujahideen.
Which ought to be
surprising,
considering
they had orchestrated the
deaths of scores of Mumbai residents
and tourists in a small-scale urban war
culminating in a 60-hour hotel siege.
Analysts scratched their heads over
the email sent to Indian news agencies
which, in stilted Hindi, claimed
responsibility for the attacks. Then
other more familiar names surfaced,
as they always do - rightly or wrongly
- crystallising the culprits as members
of the generic extremist Islamic terror.
Many countries have difficulties
defining terrorism, and not surprisingly.
It encompasses state terrorism, making
definition problematic for states that
occasionally find themselves funding
foreign political movements with
military wings. The November attacks
in Mumbai showed up the quandary
encountered when trying to pinpoint
the root of an attack that serves
the individual interests of disparate
groups of criminals, drug barons and
religiously motivated extremists, not all
of them Muslim, and at the same time
collectively advances political interests.
While flames licked the Taj Mahal
Palace, the last stragglers holding off
both the police forces and firefighters
with the few bullets they had left,
reports were already piling up. The

early deluge of conflicting data on the
news wires that is the modern Fog of
War overwhelmed all but the few who
took a step back to see the patent forest
of Pakistani involvement. The full extent
of the Pakistani connection was revealed
later. The funding, training and ideology,
it seems, originated in the Islamic state.
Indian PM
Manmohan
Singh may order
an attack on
Pakistan
The planning was thorough, and the
attackers well equipped, suggesting
the support of a large, well-funded
organisation. Most telling was the
terrorists’ composition of college-age
Muslims and apparent lack of any
real demands. One spoke to a Indian
television station by telephone during
the siege. Evidently on a whim. His wishlist sounded like it was composed on the
spot, and the exasperated interviewer
was hard pushed to coax even this much
out of the tongue-tied terrorist: “We
demand the release of all mujaheddin
put in jails ... and we, the Muslim who
live in India, should not be harassed..
Things like demolition of Babri Masjid
and killings should stop.” But frustrated
youth don’t fund and arm themselves.
An overwhelming amount of evidence
points to Pakistan – too much for India

to ignore the forest, even if it would
rather focus on the trees.
India’s government is now under
immense pressure to respond to
the attacks. The private intelligence
agency Stratfor reckons the best case
scenario would be Indian airstrikes on
suspected terrorist camps and short
range incursions into Pakistan. The
reasoning is that India can take out its
national anger in a few noisy bombing
raids while avoiding all-out war. And the
beleaguered Pakistani government may
even give silent consent while ostensibly
resisting the raids until the calls for
revenge quieten. For nearly a year now
the United States has been sending
missile drones into Pakistan without
its authorisation to target terrorists
who have fled across the Afghan
border. More likely – and destructive
- scenarios envisage strikes against
Pakistani government buildings. With
the Hindu nationalist party goading it

and elections in under five months, the
Indian government will be forced to
show what will be interpreted as resolve
and good statesmanship. A sahib has
got to act like a sahib.
Pakistan’s
elected
central
government is largely blameless,
analysts say, but renegade officials and
the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) agency are taking orders from
elsewhere. More worrying still, the
young democracy is struggling to
contain terrorists operating in the major
cities as well as the mountainous northwest where Osama Bin Laden is thought
to be holed up. The two nuclear nations
have spent the sixty-one years since
partition between war and tense mutual
brinkmanship. Ground wars over the
sovereignty of Kashmir have claimed
tens of thousands of lives. With the two
nations’ troubled history in mind, it is a
short logical hop from confirmation of
Pakistan’s involvement in the attacks

FOR ME, it was a bus journey that
revealed most about violence in
India. The buses in India seemed
an utterly impossible mode of
transport, crammed as they were
with passengers. The ones we could
see from our rickshaw driving
alongside were sitting by the
windows (not that there was any
glass in them). Incredibly, these
passengers seemed quite calm
despite there being an impenetrable
sea of people between them and the
door. I have absolutely no idea how
they got off at their destination.
Happily, my short bus ride was
with the assistance of two locals
who were showing us around and
kindly, the bus even almost stopped
for us to get on and off. Though
there are gleaming new Tata buses,
ours was a rusted old boat. On
the back of each seat were spray
painted the words “Check under
your seat, there may be a bomb.
If found report it and you will be
rewarded”. I mentioned this to our
companions who seemed almost
surprised I had noticed. “Many
years ago” was their contribution
offered as an explanation.
The bus seats revealed what I
knew to be the case: that sadly, India
is no stranger to terrorist violence,
and that the attacks in Mumbai are
tragic, but not unique.
Most travel literature on India
agrees that it is a country that you
will leave with more questions than
you arrived with. It is unfathomably
enormous and populous. The
rich-poor gap is like a massively
stretched out accordian compared
to Ireland’s. Their caste, or class,
system is so complex that I utterly
failed to understand it.
In trying to comprehend India’s
reaction to the attacks, I looked for
a sort of ‘ordinary’ middle class.
Of course, I learnt that this was a
largely futile attempt to shoehorn
to another imminent war with India’s
neighbouring adversary. All the signs
point to a backer with a vested interest
in an unstable Indian subcontinent.
The line of undesirables smacking
their lips at the thought of a fractured
Pakistani state begins in the Hindu Kush
in the north-west of the country, where
mujahedeen and Taliban fighters nest.
It continues down along the western
border, following the opium traders’
route as they traffic the narcotic nectar
from Balochistan province into Iran.
It ends in the southern port city of
Karachi, the largest city in the Muslim
world, which, as the Mumbai terrorists
found, is easily reachable by speedboat
from Mumbai. Dawood Ibrahim is one
of these geopolitical entrepreneurs,
and he stands at the front of the line.
The billionaire crime don is an Indianborn Muslim, and the mastermind of
bombings in Mumbai (then Bombay)
which killed over 250 in 1993. Interpol

Graffiti on the
embankments
of Marine Drive
Mumbai. Photo:
Ian Watkyn

what I was seeing in India into
Irish categories. As it happened, I
interacted overwhelmingly with
two groups. Firstly, the betteroff poor, who had perhaps a cart
of goods for sale to their name,
and secondly, super-rich young
adults. It was difficult to quiz the
first group on matters of national
security when you’re struggling to
haggle over the price of a souveiner
tee-shirt. The super-rich youth,
for all their phenomenal wealth,
had apathy in common with
comfortable youth the world over.
It was the media, specifically
the Times of India, which provided
most information. Reading Western
media shortly after the attacks,
they reported that the Indian
media was driving the agenda with
inflammatory and reactionary
treatment of Pakistan, and this
was borne out by the headlines and
articles I read.
The Times of India used a
wonderfully conversational style
in their hard news stories, and the
impression I got was that they were
trying to tease out reactions from
their readers. Wide-ranging polls
questioned the Black Cats, India’s
elite security force; the role of the
disputed territory in the north
(drawn in dotted lines by Google
Maps’ gallant cartographers); the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border; and
the possibilty of military action
against “Pak” as it is referred to in
space-tight headlines.
In all, it would be a fallacy to
say that Indian media’s somewhat
sensationalist treatment poorly
reflected the reactions on the
ground, since sensationalism is a
part of media the world over, like it
or not. But the Indian people I met
had a combination of weariness of
the violence and the pragmatism
needed to get on with their lives
despite terrorists’ best efforts.
believes he is currently living in Karachi,
and the he is on a United Nations list of
Al Qaeda associates. The top official in
Russia’s narcotics agency is confident
that Ibrahim’s drug network funded the
latest Mumbai attacks.
In any event, the increased tension
means Pakistan has no choice but to
relocate troops from its north-west,
where they police the Taliban-infested
Afghan frontier, to the Indian border,
giving drug smugglers and cave-dwelling
terrorists alike a chance to stretch their
legs. It has already begun to do so. Even
inside Pakistan, many powerful people
would be happier with a crippled state.
The government and ordinary
Pakistani citizens have already survived
the trauma of the September Marriot
Hotel bombings in Islamabad and the
assassination of Benazir Bhutto, whose
widower now holds the presidency.
They have everything to lose from war.
If India is pushed into military conflict
with its neighbour, any remaining hope
that the new democratic civilian regime
is capable of keeping a lid on Pakistan’s
internal tensions will dissipate. Calls
for General Pervez Musharraf to return
to power will take a louder form than
Facebook groups (there are well over a
hundred).
Indian Muslims have disowned the
attackers, refusing to allow them be
buried in Muslim graveyards. Their
bodies are still in a government morgue.
But this show of ecumenical solidarity
does not take the immense pressure
off the Indian government to strike
Pakistan a symbolic revenge blow,
whatever consequences it may have.
The voters are marching at its heels, and
India holds the rifle with an elephant in
its sights.

WORLD REVIEW

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

Piracy could
shore up our
economy
There’s no lack of liquidity on the open seas.
Sean Doyle concludes that Ireland is wellplaced to emulate the buoyant maritime economy on Somalia’s coast

T

HE YEAR 2008 was not
kind to Ireland, and with
the economy still in freefall,
it looks like 2009 will be
nastier still. Factories will
close, businesses will go bust, bankers
will flee in the same direction as their
money (i.e. offshore), and an awful lot of
people will be without work. This is not
simply an economic crisis, however, but
a total crisis of confidence.
Bankers, corporate leaders, even
politicians; these were people we
respected, listened to, aspired to be,
or hoped to parasitically squeeze a
living from. Many of us in the student
body benefited directly from their lax
attitude towards hand-outs and student
promotions: building forts in our living
rooms from AIB paperweights, relying
on Google’s recruitment stand for all
our stationery needs, and clothing
ourselves exclusively in KPMG t-shirts.
Now after the government bank bailout,
we, or at least the lucky few with a
taxable income, will be paying for those
t-shirts for a very long time to come.
Gone are the times when every fresher
could look forward to buying high grade
drugs with their 0% APR student credit
card on a trip to Amsterdam paid for
by their student loan. All we can look
forward to in the New Year is a House
17 run on Cuppa-Soups and the hope
that our student union handbooks have
enough pages left to keep us in toilet roll
until June.
But do not despair. In its own little
bid to avert social meltdown, Trinity
News has sent an investigative team to
research economies that have reacted
to crisis with innovation and success;
economies that Ireland could use as a
template for recovery.
This issue we will be looking at a
developing and geographically marginal
economy which, by successfully
exploiting a niche industry, has
managed to reinvent itself as a globally
recognised brand, drawing millions of
dollars into the region. The place is, of
course, Puntaland in Somalia, and the
industry - high-seas piracy.
Pirates
have
traditionally
maintained a popular image of
swashbuckling adventurers and naughty

yet amiable ne’er-do-wells. Of late,
the sterling efforts of Disney studios
notwithstanding, this fine reputation
has come under pressure and been
tarnished in both the print and visual
media. Piracy is now seen as the harsh
exploitation of weakness through a
mixture of aggressive and cunning, if
not downright despicable, behaviour.
This also being an accurate description
of Irish corporate practice, it was felt
that the Somali brand of piracy was
a template we could work from. The
hope is that through a balanced and
fair investigation of best practice, we
at Trinity News can cut through the
mainstream media agenda to the truth
about piracy in Somalia in the hope
of learning some valuable lessons
about how Ireland might reposition its
economy in adverse conditions.
Piracy is an innovative form of capital
accumulation that can be developed
in any maritime economy, requiring
minimal investment (whether it be from

Piracy in Somalia
has led to a surge in
technical innovations
in telecommunications,
radar, and ground to air
missile production.
the state or private sector) and yielding
high returns. Its benefits to Somalia,
and the Puntaland region in particular,
are manifold. Initial investment was
negligible, and even after 17 years of civil
war, the Somalis were able to convert an
ageing and outmoded national fleet into
one of the high seas’ most effectively run
enterprises. In 2008 alone, up to 200
boats were commandeered, the return
of which earned the local economy an
average of $1.5 million per boat (sources:
BBC World News Service; Foreign Policy
Magazine). In a country where average
earnings per head are lucky to hover
around $600 per year, this is an crucial
source of national income.

Global
business leaders
of tomorrow?
Furthermore, piracy has led to
a surge in technical innovations in
telecommunications,
radar,
and
ground to air missile production. Most
importantly, in the case of piracy, a
rising tide really does raise all boats.
Garowe, once among the dreariest
towns in Puntaland, is now one of the
blingest cities along the East African
coastline. Manufacturing has blossomed
as demand for dinghy construction
and pirate accessories skyrockets. The
service sector has likewise expanded to
support the new buccaneer lifestyle, and
tourists, who rarely visited before piracy
became a growth industry, throng the
hotels and eateries of the town.
Puntaland’s success is all the more
impressive when we compare the
region to the neighbouring sections of
Somalia which do not actively engage
in piracy. Somalia proper, to the south
of Puntaland, is still engaged in an
interminable civil war. With little hope
of an end in sight, it has been universally
labelled a failed state.
To the north exists the breakaway
republic of Somaliland, a peaceful and
relatively democratic former British
Protectorate, With a state budget of
about $50 million dollars per year,
however, it can barely supply Garowe’s
monthly champagne demands, much
less build practical things such as
schools and hospitals. In fact, being
too peaceful to bother dealing with,
Somaliland remains unrecognised
by any independent state. Despite
its democratic institutions it simply

lacks the PR-power of piracy to put
itself on the international agenda.
Ireland’s opportunity
BEFORE DISCUSSING the conclusions
of our study and the suitability of a
piracy-based solution to Ireland’s
economic crisis, it should be noted that
piracy is currently an illegal activity, and
neither the authors of this piece, nor the
editors of the paper in which it appears
would in any way condone acts of piracy
of any sort. However, we feel it our
duty to lay all the options for recovery
on the table, for the sake of balanced
argument. Moving on…
Ireland is well positioned to act on
Puntaland’s example. Strategically
positioned along the mid-Atlantic
shipping lanes, and reasonably near to
the Mediterranean, Ireland could have
a captive market (no pun intended)
stretching from New York to the Canary
Islands. This would allow us to build on
trade links and business connections
that were laid out while Ireland was
becoming a globalised economy.
Unlike Puntaland, Ireland has the
advantage of an existing, if small, fleet.
The Irish Navy could finally start earning
its bread, championed by the state in
much the same way as the banking
sector, only profitably. That is not to say
that state-led piracy will stifle free trade
and enterprise. It will be a competitive
sector, encouraging the set-up of small
and medium sized businesses all along
the coast. As Puntaland has shown, all
that is needed is a radio, radar, a few

mobile phones, and light weaponry
(items which the current spate of
shootings has demonstrated to be
readily available).
Piracy would regenerate
marginal areas of the West Coast, whose
many islands and inlets would make
fine bases for smaller pirate bands.
Moreover, the cross border business
cooperation which would be the natural
result of an increased demand for ship
building (almost certainly Belfastbased) could lay the foundations for a
truly all-Ireland economy in which each
region supports the others. What we are
talking about here is peace in our time.
Apart
from
the
narrow
considerations of money and politics,

State-led piracy will be
a competitive sector,
encouraging the set-up
of small and medium
sized businesses all
along the coast
it should be noted that piracy was
traditionally an Irish speciality. Every
child knows about Grace O’Malley, the
pirate Queen of Connaught. It has even
been suggested that the word ‘Gael’
derives from a Welsh word for ‘pirate’,
or more simply ‘thief’ - the Irish found

13

the description so apt, that they began
to use it when addressing each other.
Another point which should be taken
into account is that piracy is genuinely
good craic, and people work best when
happy in their jobs. As such, piracy
could also be contemporary Ireland’s
solution to the alienation of the modern
‘commute-work-commute-sleep-die in
debt’ cycle into which many people were
sucked during the Celtic Tiger years.
This is not to say that no
difficulties would be encountered while
redirecting Ireland’s economy towards
piracy, but most are surmountable.
Easiest to solve is the moral problem.
As piracy’s reputation deteriorated,
many Somalis re-designated themselves
‘coastguards,’
protecting
Somali
territorial waters. This claim was
based on their original role, where they
genuinely protected local fisheries from
foreign super-trawlers. This change
from pirate to coastguard is much the
same as re-labelling a secretary an
‘information engineer,’ and the pirates
have lost none of their efficiency while
gaining much legitimacy, not to mention
a morale boost. There is no reason why
Ireland could not do the same.
Our partners in Brussels are, it
should be noted, unlikely to enjoy paying
ransoms for goods and citizens flying
under their national flags, particularly
when demanded by a country that is
nominally their ally. Under such protest,
the Irish government would eventually
have to cease all pirate activities – but,
as the re-negotiation of the Lisbon
treaty has shown, not before wringing
some juicy funding concessions from
the Commission. At any rate, given
the length of time it takes to make a
decision, we should have ridden out
the crisis and replenished the national
coffers before any real action has to be
taken. This, it must be admitted, would
not be in the spirit of partnership or
fairness, but then, it is arguable that
our membership of the Union has often
been more about freeloading than real
participation.
An adverse reaction on the part of
NATO is also a worry, but yet again, the
Somali example shows that there is little
to fear. An enormous naval force is now
patrolling the Gulf of Aden. Their success
rate so far: eight pirates arrested by the
French – all released, as no one knew
what to do with them. If worst comes
to worst and military intervention looks
likely, one option would be to declare
the Aran Islands independent, blame
it all on its inhabitants, who can then
be renditioned extraordinarily to The
Hague – making room for new holiday
homes and the beginning of another
building boom.
Puntaland has managed to turn its
economy around without international
aid, the support of the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund, or the
E.U. Many of the factors that spurred
Somalia’s rise into the premier league
of great maritime powers are present
in Ireland. In fact, it is arguable
that Ireland is in a much stronger
position than Somalia ever was both
economically and regarding its potential
for reorganization. Perhaps for some,
high seas piracy may resemble the
Celtic Tiger economy a bit too closely
for comfort, rendering it an unpalatable
solution to our woes. However, the
Somali spirit of entrepreneurship, selfreliance and innovation in the face of
adversity is one that Ireland could, and
maybe should, imitate.

150 years ago in Ireland, Obama’s message was born
By Patrick Cosgrave
BARACK OBAMA owes a whole lot more
to Ireland than an ancestor or two. His
journey of change and his central vision
were born 150 years ago because of
Ireland. Ireland was the “transforming”
catalyst in an extraordinary untold
journey of change. And understanding
the roots of that extraordinary journey
begins with a simple question:
Who inspired Barack Obama? One
figure, it seems, stands above all others:
Frederick Douglass.
So who was Frederick Douglass
and why has his influence on Obama
been told across the pages of The New
York Times and International Herald
Tribune by his former students and
leading historians?
In short, because it was Douglass
who first began Obama’s journey of
change over 150 years ago; because
it was Douglass who first articulated
a vision for a truly United States of
America that Obama has made his own;
and because it was Douglass who first
articulated change in a way America has
never forgotten and in a way Obama has
given a new meaning.
In 1818, Frederick Douglass was born
into slavery, but by 20 years of age had
escaped. He rose to become the foremost
African American abolitionist and one of
the most significant figures in American
history. So significant that eminent
academics, such as Harvard historian
Prof. Henry Louis Gates, confidently
conclude that “Douglass towered over
Lincoln as a brilliant orator, writer,
agitator, and public figure”.
Douglass may have begun Obama’s
journey of change over 150 years ago,
but what is most surprising is that the

greatest catalyst for that journey of
change appears to have been Ireland.
It was because of Ireland that Douglass
was first able to truly formulate and
articulate his vision for a United States
of America, a vision Obama has made
his own.
In 1845, Frederick Douglass, aged
just 27, left the United States for
Europe. While Douglass’s star had
been on the rise, his morale had begun
to sink. He hoped for “a little repose”
in Europe, where he might regain his
strength, as well as a better sense of

A former student of
Obama’s recalls his
professor’s admiration
for the soaring but
plainspoken speeches
of Frederick Douglass
his future actions in the United States.
His first port of call, outside of a night
in Liverpool, was Ireland. He stayed for
nearly six months.
Two of Douglass’s biographers, Alan
Rice and Martin Crawford, note that he
arrived as “the raw material of a great
black figure”. Within weeks, however,
Douglass began to transform.
In a letter from Ireland to William
Llyod Garrison, one of the founders
of the American Anti-Slavery Society,
Douglass wrote that “I seem to have
undergone a transformation. I live
a new life.” Douglass went on to add
that “instead of the bright, blue sky of
America, I am covered with the soft,
gray fog of the Emerald Isle. I breathe,
and lo! the chattel becomes a man! I

gaze around in vain for one who will
question my equal humanity, claim me
as a slave, or offer me an insult.”
Prof. Patricia Ferreira, of Norwich
University, concludes that “although
from a young age Douglass possessed
the inclination to be a leader, Ireland was
the site where this trait blossomed”.
However, it wasn’t just Douglass’s
ability to lead that blossomed in Ireland,
so too did his vision. His vision grew
from that of a champion of African
American rights, to that of a champion
of universal human rights.
In another letter to Garrison from
Ireland, Douglass wrote that “I see
much here to remind me of my former
condition, and I confess I should be
ashamed to lift up my voice against
American slavery, but that I know the
cause of humanity is one the world over.
He who really and truly feels for the
American slave, cannot steel his heart
to the woes of others; and he who thinks
himself an abolitionist, yet cannot enter
into the wrongs of others, has yet to find
a true foundation for his anti-slavery
faith”.
In turn, Douglass’s vision for United
States of America grew to reflect his
expanded world view. He hoped that
one day all citizens would be treated
equally “without regard to colour, class
or clime” and that the United States
would become a truly “more perfect
union”.
By 1850, he had firmly broken with
the traditional Garrisonian disunionist
line and had begun “to employ union as
an inspirational concept,” to quote Prof.
Rogan Kersch of New York University
in Dreams of a More Perfect Union. And
some 150 years later, Obama would
emerge to once again “employ union as
an inspirational concept”.

Ireland was also the site, according
to Prof. Bill Rolston, where Douglass
“honed both his oratorical and
political skills”. He gave many lectures,
numbering up to fifty in Ireland alone,
and had the good fortune of speaking
alongside Daniel O’Connell, who had a
profound impact on Douglass.
Douglass later recalled O’Connell’s
“truly wondrous eloquence”, “Until I
heard this man,” wrote Douglass, “I had
thought that the story of his oratory and
power were greatly exaggerated…but
the mystery was solved when I saw his
vast person, and heard his musical voice.
His eloquence came down upon the
vast assembly like a summer thundershower upon a dusty road. He could
stir the multitude at will, to a tempest
of wrath, or reduce it to the silence with
which a mother leaves the cradle-side of
her sleeping babe.” Douglass concluded
that he “never heard surpassed, if
equalled, at home or abroad” such
soaring rhetorical brilliance.
Douglass returned to the United
States in 1847, “transformed” by his
Irish experience. He went on to become,
in the words of Prof. James A. Colaiaco
who authored a book on his rhetoric, the
“greatest orator of the 19th Century”.
It was the type of oratory that inspired
Obama. A former student of Obama’s
recalls in the The New York Times “his
professor’s admiration for the soaring
but plainspoken speeches of Frederick
Douglass”. That admiration was on
show in the final weeks of Obama’s
campaign when he constantly quoted
one of Douglass’s most famous lines:
“Power does not concede.”
Some years previous, according
to The New York Times, Obama had
told his class that “no one speaks [like
Douglass] anymore,” as he “wondered

Frederick Douglass, immortalised on a mural in Belfast
aloud what had happened to the art of
political oratory”. At that time, Obama
“in particular, admired Douglass’s use
of a collective voice that embraced black
and white concerns”.
The Douglass that Obama admired
was the Douglass “transformed” by
Ireland and his time abroad. Prof. Scott
Williamson writes in The Narrative Life,
that the years from 1848 onwards “mark
the years of his maturity as a thinker”.
While Dr. Michael A. Cohen, a former
Democratic
speechwriter,
author
and regular contributor to the The
New York Times, concludes that “the
thinking of the older Douglass appears
to have had a more significant impact
on Mr. Obama’s political thinking and in

particular his campaign rhetoric”.
Douglass, it seems, inspired Obama
more than any other individual.
Because it was Douglass, “transformed
by Ireland,” who first truly set in motion
Obama’s journey of change some 150
years ago; because it was Douglass,
“transformed
by
Ireland,”
who
first formulated the very vision that
Obama has made his own; and because
it was Douglass, “transformed by
Ireland,” who first articulated change
in a way America has never forgotten
and in a way Obama has given a new
meaning.
“Behold the change!” Douglass
wrote from Ireland. Behold the change,
Mr. Obama.

14

OPINION

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

Offensive Ents slogan is a red RAG to a bull
Hilary Allen
Caoilfhionn Nic Conmara
Niall Sherry
IF YOU are a class rep, or in any way
involved in the Students’ Union, you will
have been asked to wear a t-shirt with
the slogan “I’m on the RAG” stamped
across the chest this week.
For those of you who don’t know
(and, in a college that strives to be
international, there are plenty of people
for whom this is the case) to be “on the
rag” is not to be on a major night out, it
is to have a period. This is a step too far
in the pursuit of publicity.
This slogan was chosen by a small,
appointed committee, who appear to
be answerable to no one in particular.
Unsurprisingly, this committee is all-

male. Whether or not this is an offensive
slogan is of course up for debate. For
those who suffer while on their period,
or who find it embarrassing (as many
do – it’s hardly a topic that comes up
in casual conversation) it could be seen
as hugely offensive; for those who have
never had a period it may make no
difference.
Personally I find the fact that is
completely targeted towards one
gender and designed to draw a laugh
from the discomfort, and perhaps pain,
of that gender outrageously offensive.
Others may disagree. Either way, it’s
a debate that should have been had
prior to now. When the Students’
Union, of which we are all members,
is throwing its considerable weight
and funding behind a drive, it should

“We’ll never see the men of the SU walking
around in SHAG week t-shirts with ‘I SUFFER
FROM ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION’ emblazoned
across the front, no matter how funny the female
population might find it.”
take care to at least try and avoid
being blindly offensive to 60% of the
student population. It might be seen as
‘ranty feminism’ to say that it’s typical
misogyny from a body whose upper
echelons are still primarily dominated
by men, but let’s face it – even though
they’d draw a lot of attention, we’ll never
see the men of the SU walking around
in SHAG week t-shirts with “I SUFFER

FROM ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION”
emblazoned across the front, no matter
how much attention that might draw, or
how funny the female population might
find it.
Either way, it is evident that this
slogan is crude, puerile and designed
as nothing more than a cheap stunt.
Complete with stickers.
The only reasoning that I have been

able to receive from the Students’ Union
is that, while crude, it raises attention
and therefore does its job. Similar to
SHAG week, apparently. There are a
few things wrong with this logic, notably
that SHAG week aims to raise awareness
of sexual health and gender. To promote
safe “shagging” practices and to
provide information about “shaggingly”
transmitted infections. The slogan “I’m
on the RAG” has nothing to do with
Raising A Grand. It has nothing to do
with promoting philanthropic values or
feeling, it is simply a tool being used to
grab attention.
The main tenet of charities is respect
towards human dignity. This campaign
is an affront to this aim and thus RAG
week’s entire purpose in the first place.
Why bother with an offensive RAG week

at all? The argument could of course be
made that it is managing to achieve said
aim on the very basis of the fact that I
am writing this article. But there are
better ways of raising awareness. There
are better ways of informing people.
When I look at a t-shirt with “I’m on the
RAG” splashed across the front I do not
consider what I may be doing in order to
support the cause; instead, I think about
periods.
We expect more from RAG week,
and more from a Students’ Union that
sets out to represent us all. We expect
more than cheap jokes and childish
slogans. We expect better and I think
underneath my personal distaste for
this slogan, expecting better is why I
felt the need to raise this issue and write
this article.

IN PROFILE: DARREN MCCALLIG

Irreverent
Reverend
Dean of Residence, Rev Darren McCallig enlightens
Conor Gannon about his recent series of eyebrowraising sermons based around TV shows, and making his
voice heard amidst the din of secular life in Trinity
FORMER GALWAY student union
leader and current Anglican Chaplain,
Darren Mc Callig is the epitome of
enthusiasm. Determined to make
students aware that the Chapel is a
place of welcome, he is a man who
wants to make a statement to the world.
“Competition is tough with the market
leader these days” he says, jokingly,
as he refers to his Roman Catholic
counterparts. “We’ve got to make our
voice heard even if it’s only heard by
Trinity’s niche market, the Anglicans”.
In Trinity term, Mc Callig caused
something of a stir with the controversial
titles of his sermons. From “The Gospel
according to Sex in the City” to “The
Gospel according to Fr Ted”, he wanted
to do something which would grab
people’s attention, and that it did.
Interviewed by 2FM and appearing on
RTÉ, he was determined to demonstrate
that links can and should be made
between the secular and the spiritual.
So what better place to start than his
favourite television programmes? As
his catchphrase goes, “our faith is 2000
years old, but our thinking doesn’t have
to be”.
Born in Claremorris in Co Mayo in
1974, faith was an important aspect of
family for McCallig, and it was shown
more in deeds than in words. He speaks
with great admiration of his parents’
willingness to open their home to
children who needed emergency foster

care. But similar to most people, he
challenged the faith he understood in
his youth. Understanding the Bible in
the way he did as a child no longer made
sense. For many of his friends the next
step was to give up, but Darren was
determined to seek a new understanding
of his identity as a Christian.
A chaplain at University College
Galway, Rev Robert McCarthy, who is
now the Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral
and also well able to raise a few eyebrows
with his preaching, played a pivotal
role in Darren’s spiritual development.
McCarthy inspired him to delve deeper
into that broad church tradition within
Anglicanism which is at once scholarly
and open to new perspectives. He took
it to heart and was ordained a priest.
“Quite frankly, I sometimes wish I
wasn’t a clergyman”, he says. “I find it
so frustrating when people who don’t
know me automatically assume that
I must be homophobic, misogynistic,
fundamentalist anti-sex and antiintellectual nutcase.” “What’s more,
they assume I think non-believers and
people of other religions are all going to
hell.” Looking at the Church, McCallig
sees an institution which has contributed
greatly to human flourishing over the
last two thousand years. He also sees an
institution which has been, and still is in
many ways, guilty of a long list of crimes
including the abuse and exploitation
of women, discrimination against gay

“I find it so frustrating when people who don’t
know me automatically assume that I must be a
homophobic, misogynistic, fundamentalist, antisex and anti-intellectual nutcase.”

people, persecution of people of other
faiths and the most terrible abuses of
power.
But breaking down those negative
images of the church is the first step
in trying to reach out to the student
population, Darren believes. “We’re
very lucky in Trinity to be able to play
to our strengths. First, we have a
beautiful Chapel in which to celebrate
our liturgies and second, we have an
outstanding musical tradition, with
the Chapel Choir delighting the ears of
worshippers and enticing passers-by to
come into the Chapel to sample some of
their heavenly melodies.”
In good Protestant tradition, Darren
emphasizes the importance of preaching
in order to convert hearts and minds.

“On the morning of my sermon on the
Shawshank Redemption, I was delighted
to be met by a family after the service
who told me that that watched the film
the previous night, having read about it
in the Irish Times.”
For those who may not be as well
prepared for their Sunday worship,
McCallig reminds us that the preaching
doesn’t have to be confined to the pulpit.
If you miss a sermon you can download
it from the chaplaincy website and listen
to it at your leisure.
Around fifty percent of students
declare their religious affiliation when
they register. Out of that, McCallig
estimates that about five percent are
Anglican. “When you get down to the
proportion of that group who live on

Campus and who would be likely attend
a service on a Sunday, it’s a wonder we
have a congregation at all”, he exclaims.
“It’s wonderful to see that the numbers
in the congregation are increasing”.
How does he feel about stepping
into the shoes of the former Anglican
chaplain, who was renowned for his
liturgical innovations? McCallig points
out that each chaplain brings his own
strengths and weaknesses. Trinity
wasn’t always a place of bells and smells,
he observes. “I think there’s a lot to be
said for traditional Anglican liturgy.
It speaks for itself. The music and the
setting do the rest.”
So is there anything interesting in
the pipeline? “You’ll just have to wait
and see.”

Failure to bring home bacon butchers export market
Fionnuala Barrett
THE DUST kicked up in December with
the short-lived pork scandal has now
begun to settle, but some of the wounds
sustained during the scuffle may take a
while longer to heal. Quite apart from
the approximately 1,800 jobs which
were threatened just two weeks before
Christmas, others have taken a battering
because of this scandal. Galtee, for
instance, will probably be lying low for
the foreseeable. A caller to Joe Duffy
revealed that before the warnings
about pork had been made, she had
ordered one of Galtee’s “Traditional
Irish Breakfast” hampers for a far-flung
relative who craved a taste of the old
country. Upon contacting Galtee to
cancel her order, she was told that the
meat in these hampers is not Irish at all,
but sourced from the EU and the US.

Their website has since dropped “Irish”
from their name.
However, it is the government who
will prove most affected by the fiasco.
This is just the most recent in a litany
of high-profile messes in recent months,
including, but by no means limited to,
the medical card furore, the vigorous
back-pedalling over promises made
about primary class sizes and the overall
rabbit-in-the-headlights response to the
credit crisis.
The governmental response to the
dioxin scare was unsatisfactory in just
about every aspect. To begin with,
the routine checks which led to the
discovery of the presence of dioxin
in meat had not been carried out at
the factory in question for over a year.
This alone should have been enough
to cause uproar: upon what, exactly,
does Ireland base its claims to be a
producer of “quality” meat when checks

are so infrequent that they’re not even
annual?
The Food Safety Authority (FSAI),
in an effort to be safe rather than sorry,
chose to recall all pig meat rather than to
rely on the traceability system to choose
only the meat known to have come
into contact with the contaminated
feed. It was a move which prompted
Alan Matthews, professor of European
Agricultural Policy in Trinity, to express
wonder at the fact that pigs which never
came into contact with this feed weren’t
getting to supermarket shelves.
Although beef is traceable back
to factory and farm, as it has been
since the BSE crisis of the 90s, pig
meat, though traceable to the factory,
generally cannot be traced further back
because the pork industry does not
enjoy the lavish funding afforded to beef
producers. Thus out of only ten farmers
affected by the contaminated feed, four

hundred producers suffered the effects
of the product recall.
If nothing else, the debacle has proven
beyond all doubt that the traceability of
every pack of pig meat – claims on the
packs which might lead you to believe
that the worker in your local Spar knew
every individual pig farmer by name –
was a comforting myth which, when put
to the test, spectacularly failed to yield
results to anyone’s benefit.
As food writer Georgina Campbell
put it at the time, “There’s this
awful feeling that there’s no-one in
control.” Such a feeling only escalated
when, resulting from the conflicted
conferences, warnings were similarly
confused and apparently contradictory,
keen to reassure the public that pork
was not dangerous and yet insistent
that it had to be destroyed. In turn, the
consumer response was at ambivalent
and, in many cases, sceptical.

While it has yet to be proved whether
the scare significantly weakened the
current government’s popularity or
perceived ability to keep its head in
times of trouble, it can be guessed that
this latest fiasco has not helped its
already ailing stock. The comparisons
drawn between the latest mess, under
inexperienced Brendan Smith, and
the Foot and Mouth epidemic of 2001,
which was handled with far greater
aplomb by a seasoned Minister for
Agriculture, Joe Walsh, have opened up
Cowen’s kitchen cabinet of friends and
supporters, to even greater criticism,
while better-qualified rivals wait on the
sidelines.
The fallout abroad from the crisis has
yet to be fully realised, though there was
a foretaste of the reaction with South
Africa’s swift move to ban all EU meat
and dairy products. The ban has now
been lifted on EU beef and dairy but at

time of writing still remains in place on
Irish pork.
As the chorus of commentators have
been unanimous in affirming, good
reputations take years to build and bad
ones years to overcome; in some cases, a
bad reputation never entirely goes away.
The consequences of this latest dent to
Ireland’s agricultural reputation are
not to be underestimated, particularly
facing into the year of the big slump,
when sterling has taken a 30 percent
dip on its standing at the start of the
year. Considering that the UK makes
up more than 40 percent of Ireland’s
food export market, Ireland needs to
keep its reputation as clean as possible
in the coming year if it is to weather
the inhospitable economic tide on the
horizon. On the home front and abroad,
the pork scandal makes for a thoughtprovoking, if none too positive, augury
for Ireland in 2009.

OPINION

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

NEWS ANALYSIS

STOKES:
A dubious
guardian?

In trying to discipline the editor of Piranha, Dr Emma
Stokes, shows her disregard for the College rules she
is employed to uphold, writes Gearoid O’Rourke

I

T IS a perennial event – once again,
student satirical magazine Piranha is
in trouble. It seems that at least one of
the articles it published this year was
of such grave impropriety and general
offense that the complaints received by
College authorities forced them to take action
against the publication and its unfortunate
editor Andrew Booth.
Actually, no, that is not the case. Yes,
Piranha is in trouble again, but as you could
have read in the Mail on Sunday on January
4th or on the front page of this publication,
no complaints were received. It seems that
Piranha had the bad luck of falling across the
desk of one Dr Emma Stokes – known to you
and me as the Junior Dean.
You can again read on the front page
of this issue that Stokes made, in her own
words, a “proactive” move and declared the
publication banned, its future under question,
and imperiously summoned its staff to her
office.
Stokes, it seems, sees herself as the keeper
of the torch of public indignation in Trinity.
She has acted unilaterally, even if that very
public indignation is distinctly lacking. It was
suggested that she may have received verbal
complaints. Maybe those complainants know
how dangerous it is becoming to put pen to

paper here in Trinity.
“So what?”, the average student might say.
So what if, once again, free speech has received
a knee-jerk kick in the pants, at the whim of
one over-zealous administrator. “Why does it
matter to me?”, you may ask.
Well, if you get into a sticky situation
in College you would like to think that the
authorities are playing by the rules. You would
like to think you are entitled to due process,
that your right to a fair hearing is protected.
If Stokes’s behaviour in this case is anything
to go by, then clearly they are not. ”What was
wrong with Stokes’ action?” you might ask. I
may seem authoritarian, even draconian, but
“that’s her job,” right?
Wrong, it’s not her job. What is even
worse is that she knows it is not within her
authority, yet she attempts it anyway. I can say
categorically that it is not within her authority,
not by virtue of some interpretation of my
own, but rather as a result of Stokes’ written
admission that it is not.
This admission was made just over twelve
months ago. It all began with a letter to the
Editor published during my tenure as Editor
of Trinity News last year. The letter criticised
one group of college staff for providing a
poor service to students. It suggested that
they improve their performance or else

seek alternative employment. The letter
was tough, it pulled few punches, but it
did not identify any individuals, it was not
libelous and it expressed a genuine student
grievance. In short, it was exactly what you
expect to see on the letters page.
Days after it was published, I received
an email from Stokes summoning me to
appear before her to explain myself. I stood
accused of an “activity which brings the
College into disrepute” and of “harassment
or misbehaviour on College property or in
dealings with others”.
At this point I re-read the letter carefully,
trying to figure out how these charges
could possibly be justified. Secure in the
knowledge that there was no case of “
harassment” or “disrepute” to answer and
over the initial shock of Stokes’s email, my
annoyance grew.
There were many problems with the
email – its adversarial and combative tone,
its invocation of a very serious charge of
harassment without reference to any specific
evidence, its general “school principal”
approach to the situation – but what irked
me most was the obvious and knowing
disregard for the actual, College-approved
procedures for handling a complaint of its
nature.
For those unfamiliar with these, in
brief, the chain of complaint goes as
follows: you first complain to the
Editor, then to the Publications
Committee, then to the
Senior Dean. You can, if
you feel the need skip the
first two and go straight
to the top.
The College itself
is quite explicit
about this and
previous Senior
Deans have not
been shy about
exerting their
power in this
area.
The
powers are
far-reaching
and, in my
experience,
the
small
number
of
complaints
received
are
always
given
the gravitas they
deserve.
Notice
that
nowhere is the Junior
Dean
mentioned,
invoked
or
referenced in these
procedures.
Back
to
my
own
experience:
Over
the
course of three
more emaiIs I repeatedly
replied firmly that I would not be
appearing before the Dean as the issue lay
outside her jurisdiction. I encouraged her to
ask the complainant to take up the issue in
accordance with College procedures.
In response, Stokes repeated her assertion
that I must present myself to her or face “dire
consequences.” In fact, she even asserted
that this was in line with the College’s own
procedures. I maintained my line, that this
was not with her jurisdiction and an impasse
was reached.
After a lull, the impasse was surmounted
by Stokes herself in her final email. She
wrote: “I refer to your [last] correspondence
of 30 November 2007. Following a request for
legal advice, I understand that, under current
arrangements, the Office of the Junior
Dean does not have a role in dealing with
what you, as Editor, allow to be published in
Trinity News.” Yet this is exactly what she has
attempted to do with Pirhana.
Stokes, it seems, had gone to the College’s
lawyers and now understood that she didn’t
have any jurisdiction in this matter. Yet just
over one year since this admission, we are back
at the same impasse. Stokes has attempted to
act against the editor of a student publication
for something he allowed to be published.
Booth is standing firm, but this time, with full
knowledge that her actions are proscribed,
Stokes seems bent on having her way.
In her correspondence with Trinity News,
quoted, above, she went on to say that “the
wider issues raised by this case will be referred
to the Senior Dean and Dean of Students in
early 2008”. These issues seemed to be that
Stokes felt that student publications were
not accountable enough and that she was
the one to bring them into line. This review
of procedures happened. Stokes wanted a
new College officer to be created, a sort of
internal Trinity Press Ombudsman who could
refer editors to her for discipline or impose a
fine. She of course would have a hand in the
Ombudsman’s selection.
This was never going to fly. However,
an agreeable consensus was reached. All
Trinity student publications signed up to
the national Press Council and Ombudsman
and became the first student publications
in the country to do so. Despite this, Stokes
has acted unilaterally. She has ignored the
agreed procedures and undermined the Press
Council. In disciplining Booth for something
he had printed, she has clearly transgressed
the rules she is employed to uphold and has
violated the rights of a student that she is
employed to serve. Given that she is failing
in the most basic part of her job description,
to uphold the College code of discipline, her
continuation in the position of Junior Dean
must be questioned.
However, the banning of Piranha is not a
singular incident – it is indicative of a broader

pattern of over-reaching, ill-thought out and
regulation-breaking behaviour by Stokes.
What are her motivations, her goals? How
does she justify her actions to her superiors?
One doubts she is ever asked to.

ROUND UP
AOIFE CROWLEY

T

HE RECORD of Stokes’s most
recent years as Junior Dean
makes for worrying reading and
suggests she rules the roost in the
office of the College Deans.
She has unilaterally changed the College’s
alcohol policy to restrict the serving of alcohol
before 6pm and to lengthen the notice
needed of an event. This change came mere
days before Freshers’ Week 2006 much to
the outrage of the Students’ Union and the
larger societies. The previous policy had
been a negotiated consensus, reached after
months of consultation between some of the
better minds of the college administration
and student representatives. Her’s were snap
changes, never justified. On her campaign
against consumables, cake sales were the next
to go, as was well reported in this paper last
year.
She has wilfully circumvented the
authority of the new Senior Dean to deal with
student society, club and publication related
disciplinary matters and has even tagged her
own conditions onto the new Intermission of
Studies legislation after its final version was
passed by University Council.
This legislation was supposed to regularise
the taking of years out to run large societies.
Stokes, post hoc, decided that a bond would
have to be signed with her before the students
would be allowed to be, well, students. Again
this shows a total disregard for the limits of
her authority. A working group had devised
the legislation, University Council debated it
and passed it and Stokes ignored all of this
and effectively changed it at a whim.
She has reduced at least two chairs of
capitated bodies to tears in the last two years
and has revelled in calling heads of societies
at 8am to reprimand them. She banned nighttime events in the GMB in Trinity term as they
were too disruptive to student study. When
asked to clarify her position by the thenpresident of the Phil she bitingly declared “I
don’t have to justify myself to you”. Those in
authority should always have to justify the
exercise of it, even the Junior Dean.
These incidents do not paint a pretty
picture. I would normally be willing to mark

“Fear is an insidious
tool, a despicable one
for somebody who
gleefully told the The
Irish Times that her focus
was on ‘pastoral care’ not
discipline.”
some of them up to student exaggeration,
to enlargement by the rumour mill and to
the usual animosity students reserve for
disciplinary roles.
However, given her current flaunting of
College’s own regulations, her behaviour
cannot go unexamined. Why does she get away
with it? Because of fear, and her willingness
to bandy about “dire consequences” with
abandon. Students fear to stand up to her they fear they may not get rooms the next
year, that their society might lose funding, that
their magazine might be shut down, and they
fear the dire yet undefined consequences that
Stokes threatens. Fear is an insidious tool, a
despicable one for somebody who gleefully
told the The Irish Times that her focus was on
“pastoral care” not discipline.
That she uses fear in such a way, to enforce
decisions that are far beyond her remit shows
a disturbing willingness to let the ends justify
the means. Disturbing particularly given the
responsibilities to students’ safety claimed
by Stokes herself. She claims that she takes
student safety “most seriously” but it seems
student rights rank much lower in her
estimation.
The College – embodied by the Senior
Dean, College Secretary and the Provost in
this case – cannot just ignore the actions of
Stokes. She has set herself “above the law” in
Trinity.
College disciplinary procedures are in place
to protect both the College and the student
that they are initiated against. Due process,
fairness and transparent judgements are
caveat-free rights beholden to students. They
cannot be abandoned to get a quick result, or
at the whim of one person who feels that they
know best.
Abandoning these rights robs Stokes, and
thus Trinity, of any moral authority in matters
of student discipline. Allowing her to continue
in her post would be an admission by this
College that justice for students and their
protection from reckless prosecution have
become unimportant.
In 1788, Alexander Hamilton, a founding
father of the United States and first Secretary of
the Treasury, wrote that “To avoid an arbitrary
discretion in the courts, it is indispensable that
they should be bound down by strict rules and
precedents, which serve to define and point
out their duty in every particular case that
comes before them.”
By acting outside the rules that should have
bound her, it is Stokes, not any student, that
has truly brought this College into disrepute.
Gearóid O’Rourke is a regular
contributor to Trinity News and was Editor
of this newspaper from June 2007 to June
2008. He was awarded Journalist of the
Year and Editor of the Year in the 2008
Irish Student Media Awards

15

OBITUARIES

SPEAKING THE
LANGUAGE OF
THE DEAD
IN HIS column, Frank
McNally fondly
remembers Hugh
Massignberg, who
turned the obituary into an art form. “In his
lexicography of coded terms, the description of
someone as “convivial” indicated that the dearly
departed had been an habitual drunk; a person
who had “relished the cadences of the English
language” was an insufferable windbag; and
an “uncompromisingly direct ladies’ man” had
probably been prone to exposing himself to
women after a few drinks.”
But it wasn’t only his use of understatement
that attracted readers: “The unvarnished truth was
popular too, as in this 1988 tribute to a London
restaurateur (who had been famous for his
conviviality): “Often he would pass out amid the
cutlery before doing any damage, but occasionally
he would cruise menacingly beneath the tables,
biting unwary customers’ ankles””

AWARDS

BRITISH HONOURS FOR IRISH
CITIZENS
IN THE Irish
Times, Tom
Cooper firmly
objects to the
granting of
British honours
to Irish citizens.
“To allow
this situation
to continue
amounts to
no less than
a surrender of sovereign control over State
ceremonial to our former colonial masters.”
Simon Partridge of East Finchly retorts, “British
citizens live in a constitutional monarchy and not
a medieval state.” He goes on to say ,“This surely
indicates not a surrender of Irish sovereignty, but
rather recognises that both countries have entered
an era of mutual respect.”

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

WHERE NOW FOR
GUANTANAMO INTERNEES?
AS THE American government
prepares to shut their
Guantanamo camp, Ireland
has been asked if it would
take some of the former
prisoners. “This would be
a logical consequence of
this country’s call for that
concentration camp to be
shut down,” writes one
contributor in the Examiner.
“While cynics may suggest
that the Americans should
be left to solve the problem they created, this
would only complicate and extend the problem.
It would be a logical and humane move on our
part, and would also be a friendly gesture towards
the Americans, to whom this country has regularly
turned in times of trouble.”
In the same paper, Brian P. disagrees. “At present
the country has serious economic difficulties
and cannot afford any non-fee-paying guests or
otherwise. Furthermore these detainees come
from a culture in which there are elements seeking
to take over the world. It would be foolish in the
extreme to let such people put down roots in
Ireland.”
Meanwhile in the Irish Times, Paul Delaney
wonders “Should the lucky individuals happen to
land at Shannon, will they get a distinct sense of
deja vu?”

TRANSPORT

INCREASED PRICE, IMPROVED
EFFICIENCY?
NOT SO, writes
James Doorley in
the Independent.
“Surely increased
revenue would
lead to increased
efficiency. Would
this turn our
quirky and muchloved Irish Rail
into one of those
clinical operations
so prevalent on
the continent? I needn’t have worried.”
He describes his trip on the improved rail
service. “Five minutes after the train was due, a
muffled announcement was made. Iarnrod Eireann
were apologising for the delay due to a points
failure at Malahide. I breathed a sigh of relief when
the announcer gave no indication of when the train
was actually due. This unpredictability is what we
cherish. The train finally trundled into the station
15 minutes late. And no harm. There’s too much
rushing around in life as it is.”

16

OPINION

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

Hedonism of Tiger years leaves nasty hangover
Debra Wigglesworth
LIKE HER perma-tanned, acrylic
nailed, Chloe bag and Jimmy Choo clad
counterparts, Aisling got regrettably
and irresponsibly, absolutely and
unequivocally, “where am I and what’s
my Christian name” drunk this New
Year’s Eve. Awaking in a Febrezesmelling bed and turning slowly to avoid
motion sickness, she sees the beefy beast
that snared her last night - he is snoring
and salivating all over her sun-shimmer
streaked arm. Rather than wake the
heaving creature Aisling would prefer
to gnaw her own arm off.
The urban legend of “coyote ugly” –
finding yourself in the above situation
and taking the latter option - applies
uncannily to the situation Ireland as a
nation finds itself in. We lived recklessly
and hedonistically in the good old Celtic
Tiger days. We made our money and
we drank and we were merry. But now
we collectively face the consequences
of our binge. And the hangover is of
biblical proportions.

“

You may have gathered that the Biffo
administration is the ugly to Aisling’s
coyote. We chose them during the
drunken stupor of the Celtic Tiger days
and now we are stuck in bed with them.
The property boom was unsustainable.
That was predictable to everyone, but
the extent of the bust was not.
The Economic & Social Research
Institute’s recent report does not make
cheerful reading. Our Gross National
Product is forecast to contract by 4.6%
in 2009 and the unemployment rate is
estimated to exceed 10% by the end of
2009 forcing a projected 50,000 to have
emigrated by April 2009. This predicted
doom is set against the backdrop of a
government planning a 3.5% pay rise
for Government next September; an
increase which the ESRI calculates is
unaffordable.
During the boom, economic growth
was the bottom line for the government.
Short-term speculative reward trumped
sustainable growth of the country’s
economic infrastructure. The country’s
growth was the national manifestation
of the ‘fur coat no knickers’ cliché.

Social and environmental planning was
utterly neglected and abused by the
government to the benefit of developers
and bankers. Planning for a rainy day
did not factor in government policy,
and for that gross oversight, our health
system, our education system and the
private sector will pay.
We could have been prepared for
this downturn more so than any other
country. Instead domestic economic
recovery is at the mercy of a return of
stability of international finance. The
ESRI recommends that government
policy be based on ensuring Ireland
is as well placed as possible to
participate in a global upturn when
international economic decline ends.
The government’s previous failures in
planning in times of economic prosperity
does not bode well for this aspiration.
Before the Dáil rose for six weeks for
the Christmas break we were presented
with the Government’s plan for revival
of economic growth in Ireland. At best
we were presented with a list of distant
aspirations. The government want to
make Ireland the leading location for

business and innovation and a world
centre for research and development.
The headline for this plan is “Building
Ireland’s Smart Economy: A Framework
for Sustainable Economic Renewal”.
The jargon-rich aspiration soundbite
nature of their plan does little to ease
the immediate and real worry of those
about the security of their jobs or
businesses. Where’s the leadership and
coherence that is urgently needed from
the government? Brian Cowen persists
in insulting the people of Ireland with
incoherence in his policies and in his
communication. It appears, that he,
more than most is suffering the effects
of the boom-time hangover, slurring and
blurring his words with bombast and
tautology. Brian Lenihan proselytises
on Morning Ireland about the need to
tighten our belts and yet in the next
breath implores people to spend more
this Christmas. We as a nation need
conviction and action and more than
anything we need a clear short- to
medium-term plan to send Ireland in
a new direction. This is an opportunity
to reform the public sector - privatise

unnecessary semi-state assets, freeze
pay and cut wanton spending. The
absolute incompetence of the Financial
Regulator given our present banking
crisis, raises serious questions about
how many other quangos are equally
useless.
The Lisbon Treaty is another example
of incoherence by the government. The
Yes campaign was a complete disaster
by a government who were out of
touch with the people to an insulting
extent. Spoiled by the grace and hope
inspired by Barack Obama, perhaps to
ask for charisma from our Taoiseach is
unrealistic or unfair. But it is clear to
me that the line between chutzpah and
churlishness was long ago crossed.
The people of Ireland need a map
out of this crisis. A coherent, well
thought out plan would breed not only
some security in the public conscience
but also hope. A new direction for
Ireland with emphasis in the long-term
on sustainable economic, social and
environmental growth and in the shortterm prioritising the education system,
the health system, job security and job

creation. We will never return to the
days of the property boom. But that is
not such a bad thing when we look at
where it has brought us.
The bravado of the Celtic Tiger was
transient and glib but the bravery that
will emerge in these times of adversity is
what could make Ireland a great nation.
As Bill Cullen would say it is a time for
“liathroidi”. Maybe the Celtic Tiger is
gone, but the Celtic Warrior is something
inherent in all of us. Adversity can bring
out the best about being Irish... or at
least what is Irish about being Irish. One
thing to believe in is the quality of our
education system. We remain extremely
attractive to foreign investors as a result
of our bright young workforce. In the
knowledge economy it is within our
grasp to become the leading innovators
of the world but this will not come to
fruition without the conviction and
clarity of our government in dealing
with the short-term problems.
The Celtic Tiger is dead and gone. We
now await the Government’s coherent
plan for the New Year... or at least some
Alka-Seltzer for Aisling.

HEAD TO HEAD: TRINITY’S COBBLESTONES

“AN INCONVENIENCE
TO EVERYDAY LIFE”
ORLAITH FOLEY
WITH CATHAL REILLY

FOR SOME, they symbolise the important
history behind Trinity’s settling in Ireland.
Others see them as an aesthetic asset, without
which Trinity’s popularity with tourists would
be damaged.
The ladies reading this will, most likely,
forever remember them as the curse that
prevents them from getting across Front
Square in the normal two minutes due to the
thigh-hardening heels we wear strapped to our
feet and for some they are the physical barrier
that creates an ever-present inconvenience to
everyday life as a Trinity student.
Yes, the cobbles of Front Square have
impacted on most Trinity students’ lives, But
for some, this impact has become more than
just that. Recently, they have given rise to the
debate on accessibility. As a result of this, the
“Cobble Reduction Programme” was given the
task of deciding the future of Front Square and
her cobbles.
There are many strong arguments that people
have about such a programme coming into
existence, but why would you dare rid Trinity of
her cobbles, some ask? The arguments against
the plans of the Cobble Reduction Programme
are supported by a number of points: the
historical value of Trinity and her physical
beauty, the aesthetics of putting in accessible
pathways zig-zagging through Front Square,
and that there are plenty of other entrances into
campus so there is little need to make the way to
Front Arch another route.
Interestingly enough, the cobbles of
Front Square are no older than any of our
Grandparents, having been laid down less than
sixty years ago. Surely, any argument for the
historic tradition of cobbles in Front Square can
be immediately refuted on this point. Secondly,
to look at this from a legal perspective, the
Disabilities Act of 2005 requires that, where
practicable, all public access areas should be
universally accessible. As we are all aware if
we have seen a wheelchair attempting to cross

Front Square – especially on those wet or icy
mornings – Front Square in her current state
most certainly does not accommodate all. As
your elected Students’ Union representatives,
we see it as of the utmost importance that we
make our campus welcome not for some but for
all.
And now for all of those who have been led to
believe that the Cobble Reduction Programme
would result in Front Square resembling some
sort of concrete path maze, I shall give you a
brief summary of what is in store for Front
Square’s makeover. The case was made several
years ago to lay paths across Front Square to
make the Square universally accessible. The
Physical Access Working Group and the Site
and Facilities Committee gave birth to what I
have already referred to, the Cobble Reduction
Programme.
Under this programme, a number of designs
were proposed for planning permission to
Dublin City Council. One design of diagonal
paths across the square to the western flanks of
the GMB and the Old Library from the top of
Front Square, the case for which is strong as it
allows equal access for those walking and those
in wheelchairs, was rejected as is was said to
be disruptive to the character of Front Square.
Instead, conditional planning permission has
been granted for a layout of straight paths on
and around the square with a pathway also
between the Campanile and Front Arch.
The paths will be made up of granite-type
cobbles, similar to what is currently in place but
square and with a smoother surface. However,
the exact nature of the stone to be used has yet
to be finalised.
The fact remains that the new paths will
have a cobbled effect, and for those that see the
removal of some cobbles from Front Square
as a complete aesthetic travesty, perhaps this
will ease their despondency. In this author’s
opinion, the ability for all to traverse Front
Square equally is of far greater importance than
her visual beauty.
Soon will be the day that those walking, in
wheelchairs and even those of us who have
suffered at the plight of Front Square ruining
the heels of our shoes, will be able to cross the
square together.
Orlaith Foley is the Students’ Union
Welfare Officer

“THE COBBLESTONES
MUST STAY”
KIERA HEALY
THE NEWS that the iconic cobblestones of
Front Square are to be removed in the name of
accessibility is the latest in a long line of blows
to Trinity’s heritage.
With students already relegated from
the attractive buildings of the squares to the
concrete monstrosities on the outskirts of
campus, and with more empty beds on campus
than ever – due not to lack of demand but rather
to college inefficiency – we have to wonder:
where will it end? When will Trinity as we know
it disappear beyond all recognition?
It may seem churlish to complain about a plan
designed to make things easier for the disabled.
But the redevelopment of Front Square is sure
to be as costly and inefficient as most of college’s
other recent schemes. Furthermore, one has to
consider the fact that Front Square is no longer
really for the students: nearly all the buildings
around the picturesque part of Trinity have been
given over for administrative purposes. It’s hard
to see exactly who benefits from this plan.
It is true that disabled students should have
the same right as the rest of us to avail of the
services of House 6 – but even with an accessible
path through the cobblestones, they will still
only be able to visit the shop or buy a Student
Travelcard, but the society and Students’
Union rooms above the ground floor remain
inaccessible.
This move, therefore, is an inefficient
solution to the problem. If the question is about
access to buildings like the Examination Hall,
it seems irrelevant – there are already plenty
of accessible rooms for examinations to take
place, such as the Chamber of the Graduates’
Memorial Building, which is served by a
wheelchair lift.
Bigger obstacles, like steps – which are
rather more difficult to make wheelchairfriendly – prevent disabled students from being
able to enter the Dining Hall, College Chapel
or Examination Hall with ease; one can hardly
blame the cobblestones for this.

It would be quite a different story if the
buildings of Front Square were being used
regularly by all students, but the sad fact is that
they are not: over the last few years, college has
worked to steadily erode the student presence
in Front Square.
The current situation is that the largelyinaccessible House 6 is the only student
building left in the area (along with the limited
accommodation of the square – most of which
is inaccessible due to stairs anyway; there is
accessible accommodation provided elsewhere
for disabled students who require it).
The reason why this is not an issue which
most students can get behind is simply because
there does not seem to be a need for it. It is
perfectly easy to go through the four years of
your degree hardly ever setting foot in Front
Square – and I doubt it’s a case of the food in
the Buttery being so good that people are crying
out to get it.
What, then, will this nonsensical plan
achieve? All it seems to do is strip Trinity of a
little more of its heritage. Sure, the cobblestones
are inconvenient, slippery, and near-impossible
to traverse in heels. Yes, there are Facebook
groups set up to complain about how hard they
are to cross when drunk.
The fact remains, however, that they are a
huge part of what makes Trinity College what
it is. Why do tourists linger so long in Front
Square? Because Trinity College, cobblestones
and all, is an enduring icon of Dublin. The more
we allow college administration and bureaucracy
to take over our campus, the less of Trinity’s
character we retain. It’s not as if keeping the
cobblestones will result in all disabled people
being effectively banned from our college:
the Arts Block, Hamilton, libraries, 24-hour
reading room, and other important academic
facilities remain completely accessible, as they
should be. But there are times when we need
to reach a compromise, and this is one of them.
The massive cost of removing the cobbles,
just to allow a small number of people access
to buildings that the vast majority of students
never even use, cannot be justified. Let’s
preserve Trinity’s past, and protect our heritage
from the constant onslaught of bureaucracy:
the cobblestones must stay.
Kiera Healy is the Registrar of the
University Philosophical Society.

”

Green lobby bears increasing resemblance to cult
Environmentalism has abandoned the
scientific approach in favour of setting itself
up as a new religious order, according to
Hugo O’Doherty
THE QUESTION of climate change
has been, and justifiably continues to
be, one of the foremost global issues
of our day. That it is being asked is
commendable, but how it is being
addressed is lamentable. The global
green movement has unnecessarily, and
perhaps destructively, taken upon itself
the traits of a religion: faith, original sin,
Armageddon, one true path, evangelism.
This is no birthmark of the cause, neither
is it a necessary development to achieve
the objective of a safer, more secure, and
viable existence on this earth. Rather, it
an affectation that serves no valuable
purpose to anyone. It has become the
case that one is “converted” to the
“truth” of environmentalism. Somehow,
environmentalism has entered the

mixed bag of world religions.
To adhere to the view that climate
change is occurring due to human
activity requires the expectation and
belief that the scientific community
is both competent and scrupulous,
assuming of course that one is not
a scientist working in this field. To
assert that the pervading, almost
universal, position among the scientific
community is indeed not the case would
require either mass incompetence or
conspiracy among the community as a
whole. This latter point of view is highly
unlikely.
Most people, including myself, do
not have the training or instruments
needed to speak authoritatively for or
against the empirical truth of man-

made climate change. As a result,
non-scientists ought to consider the
political, legislative, and ethical aspects
of the debate, but many seem loath to
do so, preferring instead to regurgitate
a set of figures and hypotheses that
they have read or heard from authority
figures to back their arguments. It is at
this juncture that the green movement,
a noble concern for the general well
being of the planet, sadly takes on the
lineaments of a religion.
The first religious characteristic of
the new religiosity of environmentalism
is the idea of original sin. This is similar
to the Christian doctrine of original
sin, which says that as a result of Adam
and Eve eating the forbidden fruit,
humanity is in a fallen state, and can
only be saved by God’s grace. In the
case of the new Green original sin, we
are to feel guilty for our very existence
because existence necessarily pollutes.
This notion was brought home to me
recently by a singer-songwriter who
introduced a song at a show by saying
that the song was about how the world
would have been better off if we had

never existed. How can this viewpoint
possibly be justified? This self-loathing
and the desire for this whole exercise of
life itself to be over is overtly religious
when taken in the context of the three
great monotheistic religions, and has no
grounding in the empirical and reasoned
findings of those who provide the main
investigative work on this issue.
The religious zeal of contemporary
environmentalism promotes the idea
of punishment for sinning against the
planet itself. Visions of apocalyptic
destruction of the planet, the anger
of Earth flogging and whipping her
inhabitants for their maltreatment via
an attack of droughts, floods, and tidal
waves are put forward by everyone
except those who we ought to be
listening to, namely scientists working
in this area. Who is the main figurehead
of the global green movement? Al
Gore - a politician, not a scientist. If
we are to believe things on the basis of
evidence, but we can’t ourselves provide
the evidence, we really ought to look to
science first.
A central tenet to most organised

religion is that the given faith is the one
true path; the only way to salvation.
Rather than point out the joys of
positive salvation, most evangelism
takes the form of exhibiting the
scenario should one reject the faith
or disappoint the deity. This tactic
plays upon an individual’s fear to sway
them to the faith. Similarly, the case
for counteracting global warming is
usually couched in terms of what may
or will happen should we fail to recycle
our bin-liners or reuse our tea-bags. It
would be far more beneficial to frame
the case by showing how counteracting
global warming can be economically
and culturally beneficial if it is done in
the right way.
It would seem to be the case that
what ought to be a reasoned and
secular movement has taken on the
moniker of a religion because many of
its adherents are so culturally ingrained
with the traits of religious society that
they don’t know how to do any different.
When the slaves of Sicily rose up in
rebellion against their Roman masters
towards the end of the second century

B.C., they adopted the Roman form
of government with its magistracies
and customs, even though it was this
system that had subjugated them for so
long, presumably because, despite their
benevolent and crucial intentions, they
knew no better. Similarly, the green
movement has to shake off the shackles
of its own self-imposed religiosity
before it can successfully achieve its allimportant aims.
Religion rests upon a substantial guilt
trip; your imperfection compared with
God’s perfection, the filth of your body,
and your soul which is awash with sin.
The guilt of existence itself is the trip that
Green religion sends us on. A movement
that was established on the principles of
evidence, science, and ethics has thrown
these principles away in favour of blind
faith in its convictions and hysteria. The
new environmentalism can have zero
positive effect on its main goals: to point
out the apparent empirical veracity of
man-made climate change, and to then
do something about it. It’s time for the
Green agenda to return to its roots in
scientific method and reason.

TRINITY’S SPORTING
EMBARRASMENT
THE SPORTING grounds at Santry are an embarrasment
to Trinity. “Out of sight, out of mind” seems to be the policy
adopted towards Santry, and towards the sporting men and
women who wish they could enjoy their time there.
For those of our readership who have not visited Santry
before, which, given the conditions can only be presumed to be
the majority, here follows a description.
The journey from Trinity to the grounds is of a length that
is signficant when you’ve got traffic to contend with – as is the
case for those going to training after hours. The desolation of
the area, mostly industrial parks and warehouse-sized Aldis, is
oddly appropriate to the windswept desolation of the area of
Trinity’s lot given to sport. Driving in, one is made feel most
unwelcome before even exiting the vehicle, as the car park is so
pot-holed as to resemble a testing circuit for Land Rovers.
The facilities in the way of changing rooms or a clubhouse
are optimistic at best. By all appearances, uncounted years have
passed since the building has been given even a lick of paint - in
stark contrastt to the cosy facilities beneath the Pav, which is
soon to be upgraded at considerable expense. Small chance of
any of the hundreds of thousands of euro earmarked for that
project ever making its way out to the northside; Santry doesn’t
make money, and so, it seems, can never hope to attract any.
Looming over this sadly dilapidated spectacle is the Library’s
book depository, itself hardly a model of good upkeep. The
rooftop appears to have been commandeered by teenagers,
judging by the grafitti and empty cans visible even from below.
Most players observed this weekend shrewdly, if wearily, arrived
dressed for the day’s activity.
The idea of ordinary students coming out to support our
sporting teams is a noble one, but one which feels a long way
away from becoming reality. In fact, it is apparent that a sort of
vicious cycle is in effect. Students have little incentive to traipse
out to Santry to offer their support, when that very support
would buoy a team. Similarly, even our own players’ incentive
to attend Santry for training and matches is reduced by the poor
quality of the facilities; and then their team-mates who do show
are less likely to attend next time, if they suspect they will face
a situation in which they cannot field a full squad.
Santry’s lack of suitability cannot be escaped when visiting it.
Players last weekend didn’t even bother with the facilties there,
instead just piling into cars to escape straight after play. If our
own players just want to get away from the grounds in Santry,
what hope is there of supporters ever wanted to attend?

LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR

17

LETTERS TO THE Editor should be
sent to letters@trinitynews.ie or to
Trinity News, 6 Trinity College, Dublin
2. The Editor reserves the right to
edit submissions for style and length.
Opinions expressed are not necessarily
those of Trinity News, its staff or its
Editor.

letters@trinitynews.ie

Don’t breed support for dissidents
IT WAS with a considerable measure of
disgust and disappointment that I read Ronan
Costello’s article in the University Record on
19/11/08. I find it offensive and worrying that
such an unapologetic glorification of violence is
still given a platform more than ten years after
the Belfast Agreement.
On the political status of prisoners during
The Troubles, Mr. Costello seems to have
missed Mrs. Thatcher’s point. Not only would
political status have excused the actions of
these terrorists and belittled the suffering of
their victims, it would have also gone some way
in legitimizing the republican movement.
By granting political status, the British
government would have been conceding
de facto, if not de jure, recognition of the
Provisional IRA and INLA as legitimate
forces with which the UK was at “war”. Mrs.
Thatcher was understandably avoiding such an
interpretation of the conflict. Moreover, loyalist
paramilitaries had their political status revoked
as well; this was not an attack on republicans
alone but on the plight of terrorism in Northern
Ireland.
Not only did Mr. Costello try to justify
violence as a means to an end, he made some
ill-informed and wide-sweeping remarks. First
of all, in reference to the Provisional IRA’s
use of violence, he asks, “When faced with
the reality, an unmoving British government,
what other choice did they have?” I wouldn’t
have considered the British government to be
unmoving. Is he forgetting the deployment
of troops (initially welcomed by Catholics) in
1969 to ease tensions, the proroguing of the
failed Unionist administration in 1972 and the
attempts at power-sharing as early as 1974?
The Unionist governments at Stormont

before 1972 were unreservedly sectarian and
I shall not attempt to justify this. The Catholic
community in Northern Ireland, however,
never sought to destroy this system by violence.
In fact, in the 1950s the IRA border campaign
garnered little, if any, public support. The fact is
that the IRA, and later the Provisional IRA, rode
on the coat tails of the Civil Rights Movement
but never in its thirty years of violence did it
have the support of the majority of Catholics.
In short, its actions were without mandate.
Therefore, regardless of their motives, these
actions were unjustified.
Mr. Costello incorrectly states that “a united
Ireland was the sole goal of the republican
movement...” This is untrue. The republican
movement not only sought an end to Northern
Ireland’s position within the UK but the
dismantling of the constitutional structure
of the Republic, to be replaced, according to
some, by a loose, Marxist federacy of the four
provinces.
Furthermore, it was mooted in drafts of Sinn
Féin’s Scenario for Peace (1987) that Unionists
unable to accept a united Ireland could be
repatriated (presumably to somewhere they
are not from). Such a policy, if published, would
have had little support among mainstream
nationalists.
While Britain’s “claim” to the North is often
disputed, Mr. Costello contradicts himself
somewhat in saying that Britain had no “real
claim to the North” while praising the Old
IRA for achieving the Free State under an
agreement which effectively created partition.
The position of the North has been reaffirmed
by successive Irish governments through the
Anglo-Irish Agreement 1985, The Belfast
Agreement 1998 and the amendment of articles

2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution. Violence
should not be permitted to overturn such an
established consensus.
In addition, the Provisional IRA did
nothing to bring the British government to
the negotiating table as Mr. Costello so claims.
It was actually the good work of John Hume
that brought Sinn Féin into the negotiations,
much to the displeasure of some in the British
government and factions within his own party.
While opposed to Bobby Sands’ ideology,
I do admit that his sacrifice was, in some
respects, admirable and those of similar views
will wish to remember him. I do, however, warn
against the dangers of romanticizing a bloody
conflict which was both costly and pointless.
The violence wasn’t a means to and end because
the end was not achieved. Did the Provisional
IRA honestly believe that it could militarily
defeat a well-funded and well-trained national
army? Did it equally believe that it could bomb
Unionists into changing their minds about the
relationship with Britain?
I doubt many republicans would be so eager
to praise the violence of 9/11 or 7/7 as a means
to an end. There is, however, a new generation
of republicans who wish to cling to stories of
the past and, without any direct experience of
The Troubles, glorify such violence as the “good
fight”. During The Troubles the Provisional IRA
killed 1821 people, 621 of whom were civilians.
Somehow, this aspect of republicanism is
being overlooked. We need to be careful about
justifying violence in these early years of peace.
We don’t want to breed potential support for
the already strong dissident groups.
Shane Quinn
JS Law & French

A dry well, if not dry Commons

FINANCIAL QUESTIONS
MOST PRESSING OF ALL
THE RECENT questions raised around payment of bonuses
and renumeration to some of Trinity’s top professors and staff
must be regarded seriously. The situation is now unaccepably
opaque, and the onus now lies on both Trinity and the HEA, not
discounting the Oireachtas committee investigating the issue,
to clarify satisfactorily the arrangements.
This requirement could not be more timely given the foremost
role that money has had in the news surrounding education for
at least the last twelve months. It started with the university
heads’ assertion that larger salaries were required to attract
the level of talent required to run our third-level institutions to
the desired standard. This was particularly shrewdly analysed
by one letter-writer to the Irish Times, who at the time inferred
that if salaries for university heads were not sufficient for the
calibre of leaders required, the current university heads taking
home those insufficient salaries must, by their own admission,
not be at the level of talent being discussed.
Of course, this is a simplistic, if not irreverent argument,
but it revealed the deep-seated cynicism that the public have
for the monetary hardships that those on top salaries bemoan.
And this was all before financial matters in education became
the top topic of discussion after the budget, driving students
from all three levels of education onto the streets in opposition
to threats to class sizes, grants for transition year, and the
reintroduction of fees.
For all these reasons, the questions raised by this story
require the clearest and timeliest of anwsers. Every student
who is concerned about their financial situation; whether their
registration fee growing by 66%, the possibility of fees returning,
the funding available to their department – even the possibility of
their course being cut entirely, as Music and Music Technology
has been, has an entitlement to have the renumeration provided
to those taking those decisions explained in the most expedient
fashion.

Sráid Thobar Phadraig: the Irish name of Nassau Street refers to Trinity’s own Holy Well. Photo: Martin McKenna
LOOKING THROUGH the railings at the
entrance to college on Nassau Street one can
see, below street level, what looks like a gated
doorway leading under the road. This is St
Patrick’s Well, Trinity College’s own “holy
well”. Holy wells – outdoor centres of popular
piety – were hugely popular in Ireland in
previous centuries, and St Patrick’s Well was
once frequented by large crowds on March
17th.
Nassau Street itself was called St Patrick’s
Well Lane until it was renamed (after the royal
house of Nassau) in the 1700s. The name in
Irish continues to be Sráid Thobar Phádraig, as
street signs attest.
The oldest mention of a well in the area is
in a 12th century Life of St Patrick. The author
refers to a “fountain of St Patrick” existing in
Dublin. The Life says that St Patrick, in the
manner of Moses in Exodus, struck a rock with
his staff. The rock then “flowed forth abundant
waters”.
In 1592, when Trinity College was founded,
the description of property granted to the new
college defined the southern border as “the
lane that leads to St Patrick’s Well to the south
of the monastery”.
It was around this time that the St Patrick’s
Well’s popularity among Dubliners was at
its height, and a dismissive English writer in
around 1610 left us an account of devotions at
the well. On St Patrick’s Day, he wrote, “the
water is more holy than it is all the year after,
or else the inhabitants of Dublin are more
foolish upon this day than they be all the year
after.” On that day, he wrote, “thither they will
run by heaps, men, women and children, and
there, first performing certain superstitious

OLD TRINITY
by PETER HENRY

ceremonies, they drink of the water”.
At the end of that century, a story goes, frogs
were introduced to Ireland at St Patrick’s Well.
A doctor, “a very good protestant ... to show his
zeal against popery”, allegedly brought frog
spawn from Liverpool and deposited it in the
well.
In 1729 the well ran dry, inspiring Jonathan
Swift to write his satirical poem On the sudden
drying up of St Patrick’s Well, near Trinity
College, Dublin. “Here, from the neighbouring
nursery of arts/The students, drinking, raised
their wit and parts” he wrote. Public pressure
led Dublin Corporation to restore the flow of
water to the well two years later.
While the opening underneath the Nassau
Street entrance currently claims the title of St
Patrick’s Well, and has done so for quite some
time, it is unlikely to be very same well which
has such an interesting history. Several sites
along Nassau Street have claimed to be the well
of pilgrimage of 400 years ago, with that at the
Arts Building entrance being the latest. Early
Dublin maps place St Patrick’s Well nearer to
what is now Lincoln Place.
The renovation of the Provost’s House
Stables has led to increased and easier access
to the well, and a new publication, The Provost’s
House Stables: Building and Environs, contains

an excellent investigation into the history of the
well by Dr Rachel Moss.
NJD WHITE’S Some Recollections of Trinity
College, Dublin, published in 1935, contains
an interesting description of the beer served
at Commons when he was a sizar in 1879. “The
beverage supplied,” he tells us, “other than
water, was a light beer, brewed at a special
brewery in Rathdowney. It was the fashion to
rail at this beer; but I believe it was then, as
now, quite good light beer.” Hinkson, in 1892,
says it was “an attenuated small beer, peculiar
to college.”
Today it is draught Guinness which is
grudgingly provided to those dining in hall.
Can anyone provide evidence for the story that
this Guinness is paid for by a fund of some kind?
The first and second earls of Iveagh, Edward
and Rupert Guinness, who served successively
as chancellors of the University of Dublin, were
generous with benefactions, so there may be
truth to the story.
PARENTS ARE generous on the day of
Commencements, but warn them against
any temptation to buy the graduates’ scarf
currently available in college for a preposterous
price. This item resembles a tea towel more
than a scarf. A graduates’ scarf in these colours
(black, red, green and light blue – the colours of
the TCD Association) is available in traditional
two-ply wool for half the price from Ryder and
Amies of Cambridge.
pehenry@tcd.ie

BUSINESS & CAREERS

Future
Calling

18

FINAL DAYS OF INTERNSHIPS
AS THE New Year begins and students return
to academic drudgery after the festive period,
thoughts longingly turn to the summer. Many, no
doubt, will head stateside on a J1 Visa or discover
the far-flung regions of Europe and Asia but for
some an internship could just be the ticket.
Internships are periods of work experience in
the professional world and are an opportunity to
gain some real experience in your chosen field of
expertise. Internships take place in many firms all
over the world, particularly in the United Kingdom,
Europe and America.
Foreign internships are a great combination of
travelling abroad and work experience, offering
not only a holiday but an opportunity to develop
your skills and experience a new culture and way
of life. Employers tend to recruit graduates who
have relevant experience in their profession, who

There are some that pay a
wage whilst others don’t; some
may require you to fund living
expenses whilst others provide
benefits such as meal vouchers
have amassed some valuable life experience
partaking in volunteer work or travelling and who
demonstrate a maturity in coping with the stresses
of professional life. Internships or volunteering
for charity organizations are great methods of
boosting the impression your CV makes on your
prospective employer and benefitting you in a
myriad of different life enhancing ways!
Different internships have different stipulations;
there are some that may pay a wage whilst others
may not. Others may require you to fund all
personal living expenses, whilst some may provide
benefits such as meal vouchers. Many require
applicants to be either recent graduates or third
and fourth year students but may also accept
applications from freshmen. It is often advisable to
directly contact the person in charge of recruitment
to fully clarify the application requirements. Other
factors such as acquiring a visa and background
checks may also be important.
The application process can be tiresome, there
are many that require online application forms,
which can be several web pages long, requiring
detailed information and convincing original
personal statements. Finally there may be two
rounds of interviews, which may be done over
the phone, especially if you are applying for an
internship abroad. It is useful to update your CV
and practice interview techniques with friends or
arrange a meeting with your Careers Advisor. Many
internships will be closing their application dates
soon so it is essential to decide which, where and
when you will do your internship.
For more information go to the Careers Advisory
Service or go online at www.tcd.ie/careers. Other
websites such as www.internships.com and www.
internabroad.com provide valuable information to
budding interns.

Money:
the easy
way out
Darragh McCashin investigates the many
ways to beat the penny pinching after a pricey
festive season. Alternatives abound for the
open minded and courageous student.

S

TARTED
COLLEGE?
Starting college? Taken a
year out? No matter what
your situation, money is most
likely going to be of utmost
importance to you, especially with the
unpredictability of student life. There
are obvious ways of going about creating
an income for oneself, i.e. getting a
bloody job! However that is not to say it
is as straight-forward as that, likewise,
that is not to say that there are not
alternative ways of keeping your bank
account reasonably healthy-looking. Let
us take a look at both ways of doing so to
get you out there fully prepared.
Parents out there who are considerate
enough to supplement their offspring
with funding usually have a limit (I say
usually, this is not a rant about spoilt
students!), which is why many students
define their income as what they earn
themselves and whatever they can get

Call Centres and
promotional work are
often dismissed but in
fact pay extremely well.
from the hierarchy. Living at home,
where possible of course, obviously
makes sounder economic sense
compared to leaving and the endless
expenses involved, yet that doesn’t stop
the demand for cash. Without doubt , the
part-time job is your ‘‘bread ‘n’ butter’’,
not least because you will, sooner rather
than later, have a job that is your only
source of income.
Firstly, as everybody should know, a
CV (curriculum-vitae) should be created
with all the trimmings. Popular student
jobs include work in shops, bars, sales,
call-centres and so on. So how do you
get one? It is common knowledge that
the best way to go about this is to walk
straight in and confidently speak with
the manager. One remembers a face
more than a random envelope or email.
It is also the quickest way to get things
moving. The method of email/phone/
post is still commonplace nonetheless.
Using internet sites such as www.nixers.
ie in addition to companies internet
sites (checking the vacancies option;
for example, look at www.meteor.ie) to
find potential work is crucial. Take a
look at the links on the ‘Nixers’ site as
well for other sites and help with CV

construction. There is reason to be wary
about where you decide you would like
to work though.
Stereotypically speaking, the girlygirl might favour working in her
favourite clothes shop whilst the machoguy would prefer to be a trendy barman.
Be careful. The up-market clothes/music
shop is quite used to this character of
job-seeker and will have no problem
filling vacancies, which sometimes leads
to exploitation. Unsociable hours and
mediocre pay in a hectic environment is
what many experience: this goes some
way towards explaining why students
move between part-time work so often.
University experts frequently bemoan
students working because there is little
point in the student turning up for labs
at 9am if they were working in a bar till
4am just to fund their party lifestyle. If
such a student fails exams, this question
becomes even more relevant. This is why
it is worthwhile to devote some time to
thinking about your desired source of
part-time income.
On a more positive note, part-time
work offers the opportunity to make
friends outside the bubble that is the
college community. It establishes
genuine links within society at large
which is not often thought of as
signifigant by students because, well,
they are students! If you attend college
away from your own area, it can help
re-establish a role for you within your
suburb and its people. Also, if you
are astute enough about it, you can
develop your career and CV with your
work. For example, if you are doing a
business-related course, perhaps doing
some office work is better than stacking
shelves? Perhaps working with children
is better than pulling pints if you’re
doing education? Especially if you
consider that the day will arrive where
your full-time employer is asking if you
have any experience in an environment
related to your desired job? Any?
So how are you meant to find the
suitable job? The issue here is that it
depends very much on circumstances.
This includes: how many hours you
have to spare which depends on your
timetable. Many students fall into the
trap of recognizing that they only have
25 (or much more/less) hours per week
and cut out study time, family time,
exercise time, rest time, to name but a
few.
There are plenty of jobs out there
that many would not initially consider.

Photo: Jason
Meredith

Call-centre work and promotional
work is usually dismissed as a potential
job. Have you seen the rates of pay?
€11-€13 per hour for call-centers with
flexible hours including evening work,
commission and opportunities to
interact with customers. Promotional
campaigns, albeit irregular, pay very
well. Drink companies pay up to
20euro per hour. Getting involved with
organizations with good reputations
is invaluable. ‘Marks & Spencers’ and
‘Superquinn’ provide good-paying
opportunities and chances to work as
part of a team. Compare this to the
more traditionally obvious jobs - sweaty
bar work or exploitative high-street
shops- and you see the point.
A wise way of going about things is
to keep a routine where you include
everything that, at the end of the day,
is important. Yes, that includes family
time, study time and everything else.
Maybe one night a week for going
out, but that can change. It’s all about
self-control. Keep a savings account
so when there’s a busy week, you can
allow yourself to go out more and most
likely, spend more because you have
savings from quieter weeks. You can
top up your savings with clever income
methods. Have you ever thought about
the following nifty sources?
www.movieextras.ie : Sign up for one
year for 70euro (approx.) and receive
offers to be in advertising, films, TV
shows and radio. Example: for standing
in front of a camera for 2 hours, you
could get 80eur, which is what many
earn in a day. For one big commercial:
Pay could go up to 500eur daily.

www.irishopinions.ie: Instead of
looking at Bebo, take a survey. They
pay you to do each one. It may not be a
lot but as they build up, you’ll suddenly
have 10eur vouchers for HMV, Amazon
and Tesco. The student in dire need of
funding couldn’t say no to this. To steal
a saying, ‘Every little helps’! Beats Bebo

With a pinch of
cleverness and a touch
of ambition you are
ready to start earning
quizzes anyway.
Last but not least, here is a secret.
Within every university, usually in
medicine, psychology and physiotherapy
departments, there are notice-boards.
On these, are requests from researchers
for your time, it could be one hour,
maybe more.
They pay anywhere from 10eur
upwards to sit there and let people
examine you. It could be to take a
survey, a bone scan, test a computer
application, anything! These projects
go on all the time. This is a fantastic
way of spending those big gaps between
lectures. If you do one three times a
week, then you have over 30eur that you
weren’t planning for. Remember that
savings account? It all builds up.
Everything advised and suggested
here is easy-to-understand. The only
thing you need to do is sit down and
make a rough plan and you are ready to
start earning wisely.

Are the Irish banks safe now?
Aisling Deng investigates the current crisis surrounding the all important issue of Irish finanical
services. What is to be done at this late stage if we
are to salvage any shred of economic dignity?
AS WE start the New Year we’re only
beginning to comprehend the extent of
the global credit crunch and the ensuing
recession. Specifically, are we seeing the end
of the Irish banks? Share prices are small
percentage of what they were only a year ago
now!
Does this reflect simple confidence in the
banks or the reality of the situation? When we
come out of the credit crunch will the banks
still be the same? And most importantly, has
the government done enough to save our
beloved banks?
What the government is doing?
After months of speculation and
pressure, on the evening of 21 December
2008 the Irish government announced a
€5.5 billion recapitalisation (some might
say “bailout”) of the three major Irish
banks - AIB, Bank of Ireland and Anglo
Irish Bank. This is the second major move
by the government to restore confidence
in the financial services sector and comes
after its move in September to guarantee all
deposits and debts of the major banks for
a period of two years. The recapitalisation

will be in the form of perpetual preference
shares (securities than rank higher than
ordinary shares but lower than debt) which
counts as core tier 1 and carry voting rights
(a measure of solvency for banks). Anglo
Irish Bank, arguably the most needy and
controversial will receive €1.5 billion and
pay 10% (€150 million) in annual dividend to
the government. In return, the government
will effectively control Anglo with 75% of the
voting rights.
Meanwhile, Bank of Ireland and AIB will
receive €2 billion each in a similar deal and
pay a dividend of 8% (€160 million annual
dividend) but the government will only get
25% of the voting rights in these two banks.
In addition to these measures, the banks are
also encouraged to raise a further €1 billion
a piece from to improve its capital adequacy
even further.
This is an extremely interesting move
by the government and the terms of the
deal appears to be more positive when
compared to similar deals provided by
other governments. Does this mean the
government did not get a good deal? Have

they mortgaged the country’s future? Are
these measures enough? These are all
questions we are asking ourselves and the
truth is, only time will tell. One thing we do
know for certain now is that these measures
will improve the financial positions of
our banks but it is by no means a magical
solution that solves all their problems. Post
the recapitalisation,
Anglo Irish’s core tier 1 ratio will improve
to about 7.7% (6% pre-recapitalisation) while
Bank of Ireland and AIB’s will improve to
7.9% (6.1%) and 7.8% (6.4%), respectively,
according to estimates by major investment
banks. Though this is an improvement it still
lags behind other major international banks
which have gone a lot further to ensure they
have adequate resources to deal with the
challenging times ahead of us. The fact the
government is encouraging the banks to
raise further capital indicate it is only really
a “stop gap” measure.
What difference will this make?
This recapitalisation most importantly
ensures the viability (they won’t go down yet)
of the country’s major banks and shows the
emphasis the government is placing on the
role these institutions play in our economy
(obvious I suppose). But politically it shows
the lack of authority and negotiation ability
of the government, especially when they
are resorting to “encouraging” rather than
“demanding” changes and action from the
banks which before the recapitalisation
were seriously flirting with insolvency. In

truth one of the main reasons it stayed afloat
for so long is the steadfast support and
guarantees of yours truly, the government!
Though the bank’s shareholders have
avoided a straight dilution at least for now
and thus clear winners in this round (they
remain the ordinary shareholders and have
upside optionality should markets recover),
this may be a small consolation in the grand
scheme of things as most importantly these
measures are just not enough to restore
stability in the long-term.
What does it mean for the tax payers?
The recapitalisation has simply increased
the tax payer’s exposure to the fortunes
(perhaps more likely misfortunes) of the
banks. Not only are we in line to guarantee
all the deposits and loans of the banks, we
have doubled down like good old riverboat
gamblers hoping for the best!
The punchline is unlike all the other
governments that have injected money
into their respective banks, the tax payer
is not going to see much upside except the
satisfaction of bringing banks back to their
glory! So is the government being prudent?
Are they really helping the banks and the
economy or just doing the bare minimum to
satisfy public opinion and keeping the boat
afloat? Do Mr Cowen and Mr Lenihan have
what it takes to get us out of this recession?
Will they do the right thing when they need
to do it? Will they make the tough decisions?
To an extent, unless we want to emigrate,
our fate is in their hands! Watch this space...

US
FRANKENSTEIN CEsRa BpioER
gery who,
neer of transplant sur

thrie wa
CHARLES CLAUDE Gu
ad onto the side of
grafting one dog’s he
in
g.
ed
ed
ce
suc
,
08
19
in
n-made two-headed do
ng the world’s first ma
t the
tha
so
ck
ne
the
another’s neck, creati
of
se
was sewn on at the ba
ve
The transplanted head
imacy in what must ha
chin – an illusion of int
to
in
ssed
pa
d
ha
e
tim
ch
mu
two heads were ch
fortunately too
Un
e.
nc
ste
exi
d
ed
ed
tor
ain
res
str
been a very
circulation was
and the moment that
ing
d
ad
ed
he
ord
be
rec
the
ie
n
thr
ee
betw
ction – Gu
ad to regain much fun
s,
for the transplanted he
ion and nostril twitche
act
ntr
co
pil
pu
eye
as
h
suc
s
exe
its
er
refl
aft
some basic
y brain-dead
ad was almost certainl
but the transplanted he
itation.
twenty minutes of decap

II, ROBOT

CAN MAGNETIC FIELDS
COMMUNE WITH GOD?

DR MICHAEL Persinger (1945-) is
a cognitive neuroscience research
er working
at Laurentian University in Canada
.
In the 1980s Persinger designed
and built the “God Helmet”, a dev
ice
ce
that aimed to stimulate a religious
epiphany in the wearer. The God
Helm
lme
ett
apparatus was essentially a mod
ified snowmobile helmet that indu
ced
complex magnetic fields in the righ
t hemisphere of the wearer’s brai
n.
Persinger enthusiastically tried the
helmet out on volunteers, and repo
rted
that 80% of his subjects experie
nced some kind of religious pres
ence in the
room, described normally to be
e
either God or a dead person that
the subject
had known. Recently, in 2004 a grou
ectt
p of Swedish researchers attempt
ed to
o
replicate Persinger’s experiments
but fond none of the miraculous
effects that
had originally been claimed. Pers
hat
inger took issue with these Swedish
attem
mpt
stating that they “don’t replicate
pts,
ss,
it, not even close”.

lyst who really believed in the power of
WILHEM REICH (1897-1957) was a psychoana
sexuality.
own “primordial cosmic energy” that he
He proposed that the human libido has its
e for such far reaching phenomenon as
nsibl
called orgone and claimed that it is respo
the formation of galaxies.
the weather, the color of the sky, gravity and
very much like large, hollow capacitors,
Reich built “orgone accumulators”, which were
on people suffering from a wide variety of
and conducted clinical tests on their effects
of
even convinced Einstein to test the effects
diseases, as well as on mice and plants. He
some of his orgone accumulators in 1941.
dly Orgone Radiation” or DOR, Reich
After postulating an anti-orgone energy, “Dea
manipulate streams of orgone energy
built a “cloudbuster” which he claimed could
s to form and disperse. Reich even
cloud
g
in the atmosphere to induce rain by forcin
inced that his “cloudbuster” could be
claimed to have done battle with UFOs, conv
” from the sky.
deployed to extinguish the anomalous “stars
m potency as a foremost consideration for
orgas
of
e
Reich emphasized the importanc
arily caused by depletion or blockages of
health. According to his theory, illness is prim
on this he built 250 orgone accumulators for
the orgone energy within the body. Based
nts rented the accumulators as a cure for
therapeutic use in a town in Maine, USA. Patie
until the FDA shut down the whole operation
cancer, the common cold and impotence,
of some kind and “fraud of the first order”.
t”
in June 1956, suspecting a “sexual racke

21 GRAMS 1907

20) did some startling
DUNCAN MACDOUGAL (1866-19
l may have mass.
research into the idea that the sou
1907 he weighed six
in
W
Working in Massachusetts, USA
ess of dying, and was
proc
the
in
e
p
patients while they wer
the human soul does
a
able to claim from his results that
s leaves the body
mas
this
iindeed have mass, and that
average weight
the
d
foun
He
th.
dea
a
at the moment of
h is the original
whic
s,
o
of the human soul to be 21 gram
ms.
Gra
21
lm
fi
the
ssource of the name for
on dogs, weighing
MacDougall also experimented
th and concluding
dea
15 different dogs at the point of
majority of dogs
the
e
sinc
ls,
sou
e
tthat dogs do not hav
lts of these
resu
. The
did not lose weight as they died
York Times
New
the
both
in
d
experiments were publishe
the time.
at
icine
Med
n
rica
Ame
nal
jour
and the medical

DRUGGED UP AT EASTER

IN 1962 Walter Pahnke decided to investigate the effect
of mind-altering drugs on religious experiences. A
theology graduate student at Harvard Divinity School
at the time, Pahnke conducted his experiment on Good
Friday in Marsh Chapel at Boston University.
This experiment was part of the Harvard Psilocybin
Project, a whole series of experiments in psychology led
by Dr Timothy Leary and Dr Richard Alpert carried out
between 1960 and 1962. The experiments were part of
Leary and Alpert’s personal discovery of psychedelic
drugs and included frequent personal use by these two
leading academics as well as other such experiments.
Pahnke administered psilocybin, the active ingredient
in magic mushrooms, to 11 divinity graduates who were
attending the Good Friday service. The experiment was
organized as a double blind, an especially stringent way
of conducting an experiment where neither the subjects
nor the researchers know who got the active drug
and who the placebo until after the results have been
collected. The “placebo” was niacin, a drug which causes
flushing but has no psychedelic effect.
Almost all the individuals who received the
magic mushroom drug reported profound religious
experiences during that service. Even 25 years after the
experiment some of the test subjects (many of whom
became priests) described the Good Friday service of
1962 as one of the high points in their spiritual lives.

KEVIN WARICK (1954
-) is a British scientist
and professor of
cybernetics.
In his most famous set
of experiments, know
n as Project
Cyborg, Warick had a
computer chip implante
d into his arm,
with the aim of becomi
ng the first cyborg.
The first part of this res
earch, which began in
1998,
involved the implanta
tion of a fairly simple
RFID transmitter
beneath his skin, allowin
g him to mentally contr
ol special
lights, doors and heate
rs that were set up to
receive a signal
from the chip.
The second part of the
experiment was the ins
ertion
of a specially designe
d neural interface consi
sting of 100
electrodes, which was
implanted in 2002. Th
e electrode
array interfaced direc
tly into Warick’s nervo
us system and
allowed Warick to contr
ol a robotic arm so tha
t it mimicked
the actions of his own
arm. The second impla
nt was even
detailed enough that
it allowed Warick’s ne
rvous system to
connect to the internet
and control the roboti
c arm in the
University of Reading
, UK from Columbia Un
iversity the US.
The final and highly pu
blicised experiment wa
s the
implant of a similar ele
ctrode array into Waric
ks wife, with
the aim of making the
m “telepathic” via the
internet. The
experiment was a suc
cess and Warick and his
wife became
the first two humans to
communicate purely
electronically
from nervous system
to nervous system.

SUICIDAL FOR

ACCURACY

WHEN IT co
mes to a selfsa
higher than
Romanian fo crificial dedication to sc
ie
rensic scien
beginning o
tist Nicolas M nce, there are few who
f th
rank
inovici. Stud
out on himse e twentieth century, Min
ying hangin
ovici decided
lf. A 238-pag
g at the
e paper, “Stu
analysis of n
to try the ex
dies on Han
ecution tech
ot only 72 su
ging
nique
icides (by han
hangings.
ging) but also ”, published in 1905 in
cludes his
descriptions
Minovici seem
of his own vo
s to have rese
luntary
includes an
arched this
extensive an
fa
ir
ly
m
orbid topic
alysis of the
gender, place
almost exhau
suicides that
, season, typ
stively – he
he studied,
e
also had a st
categorising
rong propen of knot and circumfere
them by
nce of the ro
sity for reality
himself and
pe
, or possibly
the others th
a death wish among others. He
at h
times by the
, not only su
neck, he also e convinced to act as liv
bjecting
e subjects to
asked his as
meters of th
sistants to p
e grou
hanging 12
ull the rope
separate
Minovici seem nd in his own hanging.
until his feet
s to have bee
were two
regardless.
n
w
el
l
aw
Indeed, des
cribing the ex are of the danger of su
again that “d
ch activity, ye
periments la
espite of all
t continued
ter
our courage
three to fou
we could no Minovici apologises ag
r seconds”.
ain and
t take the ex
periment an
y longer than

20

TRAVEL

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

In at the
deep end

Dead
heads

Crossing an ocean in a small yacht is truly an
adventure. A Trans-Atlantic passage offers
trepidation into the unknown and a reward
that is hard to beat, writes Noel Connolly

LAST WEEK it was announced that
the controversial exhibition ‘Bodies’ is
to come to Dublin. The exhibition has
always courted controversy. Organisers
admit that they cannot guarantee the
origins of the bodies they use in their
displays. We do know they are from
China but many claim they are the bodies
of political prisoners and family consent
was never given nor requested. ‘Bodies’
is set to exhibit in the Ambassador in
the next few months. In the meantime
there are no shortage of places one can
catch up with some world-famous dead
heads.
In Moscow the preserved body
of Lenin is on display . Visitors to
Red Square
make a beeline to his
mausoleum, open daily from 10am until
1pm. The irony about the preservation
of Lenin is that in the early days the
Russian authorities had yet to figure out
the art of embalmment. They turned to
a U.S. company for help who duly gave
Lenin a chemical bath every two years.
He may have disagreed with U.S. policies
whilst alive but U.S. ingenuity kept him
looking his smartest whilst dead.
The Chinese also decided to preserve
the body of Chairman Mao. He lies in
a mausoleum on Tiananmen Square
where thousands view him on a daily
basis. Mao insisted that he be cremated,
but his wishes fell on deaf ears. The
communist politburo used his cadaver
for propaganda purposes.
In Vietnam the head of Ho Chi
Minh is on display. It can be seen in
his mausoleum in Hanoi, northern
Vietnam’s largest city. The structure
is located on Ba Dinh Square where
Ho had read Vietnam’s Declaration of
Independence in 1945. Ho wished to be
cremated in order to “save some land
for agriculture”.Rather than saving land
they built a 42m wide building to house
his tiny frame.
If travelling to Russia, China or
Vietnam is out of the question, but you
still have a lust for all things dead fear
not; there is a dead head here in our
midst. The preserved head of St. Oliver
Plunkett ison permanent display in St.
Peter’s Church, Drogheda, Co. Louth.
Plunkett
was
the
last Roman
Catholic
ma
martyr
to die
in England.
L o r d
Sh
Shaftsbury
ord
ordered
his
co
conviction
fo treason
for
a
n
d
re
rebellion.
Plunkett
w
was
hung,
d
drawn
and
q
quartered
The head of St Oliver
in
1681.
Plunkett on display in St Some of his
Peter’s Church.
remains
are in a
Benedictine
monastery in Germany. His head is on
display in Drogheda and has proven to
be a leading tourist attraction over the
years.

T

HERE WERE four of
us; Jim, the captain, was
an American with seven
Atlantic crossings under his
belt. Danny, the first mate,
was half-Italian, half-Spanish, born in
Germany and living in London. Igor, the
second mate, was a Russian Jew, now
living in Israel. All came with extensive
sailing experience. Completing the
motley crew was myself, whose sailing
experience amounted to multiple ferry
crossings between Ireland and the UK. I
didn’t know a halyard from a spinnaker,
so as I boarded Buff, the 15-meter sloop
we were going to sail to the British Virgin
Islands, I was a little apprehensive.
The first twenty-four hours from
Mallorca to Ibiza were not enjoyable.
We sailed out of the bay of Palma into
the November night. The sea was
relatively calm as Igor handed me the
helm, however as the night wore on the
constant motion started to affect me
and before long I was doubled over the
side donating my dinner to the fish. “It
happens to everyone the first time” were
Danny’s consoling words. My misery
continued all night. I tried sea-sickness
pills, not realizing they are a prevention
rather than a cure. First light revealed

paperwork. As Buff crossed the straits
and entered the Atlantic, the sea
turned ugly. Huge black swells threw
the boat about like a sea-borne roller
coaster. The wind screamed in our ears.
“Okay, life-jackets and harnesses on”
shouted Jim, wrestling the helm. Still,
he seemed fairly calm and in control of
the situation, so I didn’t worry. In fact
I was rather enjoying the theme park
ride. Entering Barbate harbour at night
in those conditions would have been
impossible, we anchored near a beach
and docked the next morning.
The high winds stayed with us for
a few days, so we sat it out in Barbate.
Then with weather conditions in our
favour we set a course south for the
four day journey to the Canaries. Our
destination was one of the lesser known
islands; La Palma. Having become more
accustomed to life aboard, I was now
given my own watches on the helm to
do. The watches were divided equally
among the four of us. Three hours on,
nine hours off. With La Palma only
a day’s sail away, we received a radio
report that a tropical storm was due to
hit the Canaries. We needed to get to the
shelter of a port, and quickly. Realizing
that we could reach Tenerife before La

“In the distance, maybe an hour’s sail behind
us, the tall grey funnel of a tornado loomed
menacingly”
a rather pathetic figure lying on deck,
exhausted and wondering why he hadn’t
stayed on land.
But there were more serious
problems to contend with. In the
distance, maybe an hour’s sail behind
us, the tall grey funnel of a tornado
loomed menacingly. “That could smash
a boat to pieces, I hope it doesn’t catch
up with us” mused Jim. Fortunately it
didn’t, but as we eased into Ibiza that
evening, the thought of catching a plane
back to Mallorca did cross my mind.
We left Ibiza the next morning and
headed for Gibraltar. I was given the
job of ship’s cook for the first couple of
days while we sailed towards the Rock.
Cooking at sea proved to be one of the
biggest challenges. A swaying saucepan
of boiling water on a boat heeling up
to 30 degrees from side to side can be
a dangerous thing. I learnt to keep the
meals as simple as possible.
The next leg of the journey proved
to be even more perilous. In Gibraltar,
we refueled and enjoyed a beer. A storm
had been forecast, but the captain
elected to head up the coast to the
small fishing port of Barbate in Spain
rather than remain at the Rock and
deal with the hassle of immigration

Palma, we changed course and arrived
in the capital, Santa Cruz, twelve hours
before the storm hit. That night all hell
broke lose. Nature unleashed her fury,
boats were smashed and power lines
fell, leaving Tenerife without electricity
for three days. Struggling with fenders
to protect Buff from being slammed
against the dock side proved ineffective
in preventing superficial damage to the
yacht’s starboard hull. I was grateful we
weren’t at sea when the storm hit
We were now ready for the longest
leg of the trip, at least three weeks cut
off from the rest of the world to cross
one of the biggest oceans on earth.
After re-provisioning the vessel and
filling the water and fuel tanks, we set
a course of approximately 240 degrees
and slipped out of Tenerife. Sailing past
the Canary island of Gomera I realized
this was the place where Columbus
made his last stop before his own
crossing (in a rather larger vessel than
ours). I managed to send off a few last
texts to friends before the coverage
faded and Gomera disappeared.
There was no turning back now.
The days became warmer as we headed
southwest, leaving Europe’s winter
behind. We stayed on Canaries time

By Derek Larney
Travel Editor

The open sea. Photo by T Giramondo
as we traveled west across time zones,
each day it would get a little darker
when I started my morning watch.
When not on the helm, or cooking
and cleaning, we would pass the day
reading, or playing cards or chess. Jim
was an excellent chess player. Each day
he would greet me with the familiar
refrain, “Ready for another pummeling
Noel?”, nodding towards the chess set.
It was a bit demoralizing to be beaten
so many times, but since my diary was
a little empty, I always consented to
another beating.
One of the best experiences of this
part of the trip was sailing at night.
Alone, the rest of the crew asleep, with
ones hands on the helm guiding the
boat to the Caribbean, one could look
up at the heavens to contemplate a
firmament of incredible luminosity and
brilliance. Perhaps four times as many
stars were visible at sea without the
light pollution from land. Whilst in the
water glowing plankton complemented
the heavenly display.
We dragged a line behind the boat
with a lure and managed to catch a
regular supply of fish to supplement
our provisions. Igor, never the most
gifted crew member when it came to his
turn in the galley, was given the task of
cooking after we landed a large wahoo.
He cooked it well enough and was just
about to serve it when I noticed the
bottle of oil he had been using. A closer
inspection revealed it to be wood polish
oil. The wahoo was back in the sea ten
minutes after it had left.
Our main problem now was lack
of wind. The fabled trade winds failed
to blow. One day, without the motor
running, the speedometer read zero. We
weren’t moving, so we took down the
sails and went for a swim and a proper

wash - the deepest bathtub I’ve ever
used. Due to this lack of wind power, we
resorted to the motor for much of the
crossing.
Two thirds of the way across, with
fuel levels running low, we realized
we may be spending Christmas at sea.
Luckily, we came across a generous
super-yacht. A request for fuel was
accepted, and with the two boats sailing
perfectly parallel, a line was thrown
across, and three jerry cans of fuel were
passed across. We were on our way
again. A day later the winds picked up,
coaxing us towards the Caribbean. We
could almost smell it now, and at about
11pm on Christmas Eve, the faint lights
of the island of St Martin crept over
the horizon. On Christmas morning,
we cruised into the turquoise bay of
Phillipsburg and docked. Four rather
bedraggled and not particularly clean
sailors stepped off their vessel
And onto dry land for the first time
in 23 days. Bliss. I did a John Paul II
and kissed the wooden dock. Then I
telephoned my mother to wish her a
happy Christmas. She hadn’t known
the truth about what I had been up to;
I had told her that I was working on a
transatlantic cruise ship. It was time to
come clean.
“Mum there’s something I really
need to tell you” I began.
“Don’t tell me you’ve gone and got
married without me being there” (her
worst fear) she answered
“I don’t even have a girlfriend, how
could I do that? No it’s about that cruise
ship, well it was more of a boat really” I
admitted.
She answered that she had suspected
all along.
The British Virgin Islands, our final
destination, were a further day’s sail

away. After delivering Buff to her new
owners on Tortola, we discussed the
previous six weeks over a Painkiller
cocktail. “Do you remember that storm
off Gibraltar?” inquired Jim. “Of course,”
we answered. “ I was really worried we
were going to die,” he admitted. Like all
good captains, he had never let it show.

SETTING SAIL
THERE ARE several ways in which
one can go about sailing the
Atlantic.
One is to hang around marinas
in the Canaries or the Azores
from where Caribbean yachts
typically make their last stop
before heading west.
Marinas can be a good
source of information on
who is going where and
may need a spare hand.
Another
avenue
are
web-sites such as
w w w. f l o a t p l a n . c o m
and
www.7knots.com,
which
regularly have
advertisements
seeking
crew, not just for crossing
the Atlantic but in all partss
of the world.
n
Another option is to join
a crewing agency, such ass
www.reliance-yachts.com
Agencies usually have a
list of vacancies that they need
filled in order to assist captains
in the delivery of yachts from the
Med to the Caribbean. Positions
are usually unpaid and it is the
crewmembers responsibility to
fund their return.

Backpacking the world for the long haul
By Derek Larney
Travel Editor
SOME JOURNEYS can be eventful,
some can be complicated, others can
be rewarding. But then there are
the journeys that are truly epic and
take months of travel, planning and
execution. Trips like these tend to be for
the backpacker who is in it for the long
haul, for those that know a shower is a
luxury and who know a hitching thumb
can be the best source of information
and adventure. With this in mind we
decided to take a look at some of the
world’s classic backpacking routes and
figure out why they are still so popular.
Trans-Siberian Railway
MANY PEOPLE think the TransSiberian is the world’s longest railway
journey which might help to explain
its popularity. The world’s longest
single scheduled service actually runs
from the Ukraine to Vladivostok but
that doesn’t put people off plumping
for the Tran-Siberian instead. It is
possible to go all the way from southern
Portugal to Singapore using only
railways (this journey incorporates the
Trans-Siberian) but for most people
a 9,000km journey across the Ural
Mountains and into deepest Siberia
before finishing in Beijing is enough.
The Trans-Siberian has three different

routes- the Trans-Manchurian which
snakes from Moscow to Beijing, visiting
only Russia and China; the TransMongolian, which traverses Mongolia,
and the classic Trans-Siberian, which
goes from Moscow to Vladivostok in far
eastern Siberia. From here it is possible
to take a 36-hour ferry to Japan which
won’t seem like such a big ordeal after
nearly a week spent on a train. The
Trans-Siberian involves what were once
quite luxury train carriages, built in the
Soviet days; first class compartments
have two beds apiece and come with a
radio to listen to some Russian classics.
Along the route there are a few places
of interest to hop off and spend a few
days- Lake Baikal, near the Siberian city
of Irkutsk, is the largest freshwater lake
in the world as well as the deepest. It
reputedly holds one fifth of the world’s
fresh water and is also known as one
of the coldest lakes in which to swim.
Those on the Trans-Mongolian trip
won’t want to miss out on a stop off in
the Gobi Desert of Mongolia which, as
one of the coldest deserts in the world,
offers visitors a chance to see snow
falling on sand.
Istanbul to Kathmandu
THIS A route first made famous by
Marco Polo and Alexander the Great.
More recently the hippie movement
in the 60’s and 70’s brought it back to

the most amazing scenery to be found
on the planet as well as an indigenous
population that are both warm and
welcoming. The capital Lhasa is home
to the Potala, one of Buddhism’s most
revered monasteries.

A Bull Elephant on the Plains of Africa. Photo: John Spooner
life and thousands of dreadlocked ones
went in search of finding themselves
and cheap dope. There is no set route
per se but most people take in Iran,
Pakistan, then travel the Karakoram
highway to Kashgar in western China
before making a beeline between Tibet
and Nepal. There are of course many
different variations to this, some take a
ferry across the Caspian Sea from Iran
to Turkmenistan and then onwards
to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan before
entering China at its western flank and
proceeding south to Nepal. Highlights of
this route include the cultural delights

of Iran where one can view remnants of
Alexander and Darius the Great at the
ruins of Persepolis as well as some of the
most stunning mosques in the Islamic
world. Turkey holds the magical tundra
of Cappadocia where visitors spend
nights in fairy chimneys or cave houses
and explore bizarre rock formations by
day- the area was used by George Lucas
in Star Wars. Pakistan has plenty to see
and do for the trekker, there are any
number of walks both east and west of
the Karakoram highway- many snake
high into the Himalaya to remote tribal
villages. Tibet, of course, offers some of

Capetown to Cairo
THIS TRIP involves more than
10,000kms of some of the world’s
bumpiest roads - in other words you’ll
love it! The route spends some time in
Capetown, perhaps the jewel of South
Africa which offers scuba diving with
Great White Sharks and awesome views
from Table Mountain. It then traverses
Botswana, Zambia and Malawi from
where one can take a dip in the tropical
Lake Malawi. The plains of the Serengeti
are also on offer as is an attempt on
Mount Kilimanjaro, which at 21,000ft
is Africa’s highest mountain. Other
highlights include opportunities to see
the near extinct mountain gorillas in
Uganda and Rwanda as well as Kenya’s
famed wildlife safaris. The problems
begin here though as Sudan, just to
the north of Kenya, has been facing
political turmoil for a good few years
now. Travel there is possible but best
avoided. It is possible to take a ferry to
Yemen however Saudi Arabia is closed
to tourists. The only real option here
is to fly over Sudan and into southern
Egypt from where the Pyramids and

Giza await.
These are just three of the classic
overland routes that have been pioneered
over the years. Others include Route 66
in the U.S. which is mainly done as a road
trip from Chicago to L.A. Another is the
Appalachian Trail which is considered
the world’s longest walk- it cover over
2,100 miles from Maine to Georgia.
Bill Bryson wrote about his experience
on it in the book A Walk in the Woods.
Finally for a really long road trip check
out www.oz-bus.com This recently
formed travel company is offering bus
trips from London to Sydney- they take
in 20 countries in 13 weeks, costs are
from €4500 per person.

EPIC INFO
CHECK OUT the Lonely Planet
books Istanbul to Kathmandu and
Capetown to Cairo to get a sense
of what these journeys involve.
Online forums such as the Lonely
Planet’s Thorntree also offer
some excellent information from
travelers who have been there.
The website www.seat61.
com is an invaluable source of
information, not only for the
Trans-Siberian but all manner of
rail travel worldwide.

SPORT

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

Ladies soccer on the rise
Soccer Correspondent Niall Walsh has been following the fortunes of the Trinity Ladies side since
the beginning of the season. He talks to Ladies captain Mikaela Kotschack and coach Cormac Ryan
about their successes in Michealmas Term and the
challenges that lie ahead in the coming months

T

HERE HAS been a massive
resurgence in Ladies Soccer in
Trinity so far this year. Determined
not to be outshone by their male
counterparts, they have achieved
some exceptional results in the first part of
the season. The team officially began training
as a squad towards the end of October but
in reality, the work that was put in before
the beginning of the season by their captain,
Mikaela Kotschack, laid the foundations for
the success that has followed. Kotschack, a

“The trainings are great
quality and there is a great
turnout because obviously
all the girls really enjoy it”
second year BESS student who hails from
Sweden, was elected as captain by her peers
at the end of the 07/08 season and instantly
began devising a strategy aimed at revitalising
ladies soccer within Trinity. Having spent half
of the previous season without a manager,
Kotschack was well aware that finding an
enthusiastic and committed coach had to be
her number one priority and it did not take
her long to find her man.
Cormac Ryan was then in his final year of
an Irish degree in Trinity and himself a long
serving member of the Trinity men’s soccer
team. Kotschack spoke to the manager of the
men’s soccer team, Jimmy Cummiskey, and
discovered that Ryan was about to embark
on a one year postgraduate course in Trinity
and she thus outlined her vision for the
coming season to him and spoke about his
potential involvement. The Trinity striker was
“hugely impressed with her enthusiasm and
determination” and following an interview,
promptly accepted the job. Since then the
two have been working in tandem to ensure
that 08/09 would be a season to remember
for women’s soccer in Trinity. Both had very
positive things to say about their respective
impacts this year and Kotschack went so far
as to say that Ryan was almost the model
coach with his only imperfection being his
“language with the referee”!
Many of the problems the team had faced
in previous years had been down to the small
pool of players available, a situation which
Kotschack was keen to rectify. By the time the
trials arrived in early October Ryan told me
that she had “coaxed nearly half the girls in

Trinity to try out” and in their early training
sessions they had almost forty girls taking
part, making the coach’s life pretty difficult.
It did not take too long for this to even itself
out though and he soon had a squad of about
twenty girls to choose from.
Their coach was hugely impressed with
the commitment and enthusiasm of the ladies
in the early training sessions, as well as with
the footballing abilities on show. Kotschack
has highlighted the importance of their new
coach’s role in getting so many of the girls out
on the training field. “The trainings are great
quality and there is a great turnout because
obviously all the girls really enjoy it”, she said.
“He has introduced some new elements to
training, amongst others spinning and yoga,
and is full of good ideas to make it as diverse
as possible.”
There was to be no easy transition from
the training field to competitive football,
however. In their first game of the season on
the 23rd October the Ladies faced a tough
league game against Maynooth, league
finalists the previous season, at home in
College Park. The coach admitted that his
expectations were not too high, given that
many of his team had never played with each
other before. However, it was the Trinity side
that started the game the brighter, creating
five or six clear-cut chances before the half
hour. They were unable to put any of them
away though and were made to pay the price
when Maynooth took the lead against the run
of play. In the second half the coach switched
pacy Molly Whiteman, making her debut for
the side, from right wing to striker and the
move paid off almost instantly.
Whiteman made a terrific run in behind
the Maynooth defense and was picked out
with a perfectly timed ball by midfielder
Sarah McGrath, allowing the fledgling striker
to calmly slot the ball past the onrushing
keeper. Trinity re-assumed control of the
game and began to push for the winner. They
were denied by a couple of superb saves from
the Maynooth keeper and then with five
minutes to go, disaster struck. Maynooth’s
no. 9 jumped highest after a corner from the
right hand side and headed the Kildare college
into a shock lead. Determined not to come
out of their first game empty-handed Trinity
threw everything at the Maynooth defense
for the remaining minutes and, well into
injury time, they got the goal - and the result
- that their performance deserved. American
striker Whiteman picked the ball up on the
half way line, ran straight at the centre of the
Maynooth defense and unleashed a rasping

drive from the edge of the box that found the
bottom right corner of the net.
Ryan was delighted with the attitude of
the Ladies in their first game and had seen
enough to convince him that they could
mount a genuine challenge in the league.
Their next game served to reinforce this as his
team hammered NCI 0-12 away from home.
The Ladies were simply too good for their
Ringsend counterparts and amazingly, under
horrific conditions and torrential rain, were
9-0 up within half an hour. Striker Whitman
was again on target, bagging a hat trick, and
captain Kotschack bagged her first two goals
of the season but the real star of the show
was influential midfielder McGrath. Her
performance, which included an incredible
five assists and three goals, was one of a
plethora of reasons why the referee decided
to call the game up after sixty minutes.
Trinity thus went into their third game
of the league campaign on a high but soon
realized that Drogheda would provide
a much stiffer test than their previous
opponents. The midlands side boasted two
Ireland players in midfield but right from
the first whistle at College park Trinity got
in their faces, not allowing them any time on
the ball and putting in some fierce challenges
all over the pitch. Trinity were without top
scorer Whiteman due to injury but thankfully
their midfield stepped up to the plate with
some crucial goals. Midfield general Hannah
Tyrrell scored an impressive hat trick and
winger Aoife Merrigan, herself making a
return to the team on the left wing after a
long absence out injured, popped up with two
very well taken goals. Even though Drogheda
pulled a late goal back to make the final score
6-1, nothing could take away from Trinity’s
superb all-round display.
The team then left aside their league game
to play DIT in the first round of the cup. For
the more experienced players this was a
chance to gain some revenge as the Glasnevin
side had thrashed them 8-0 the previous

season. Amazingly this current crop of Trinity
players proved just how far they have come in
twelve months by completely dominating the
game and reversing last season’s scoreline.
Another superb defensive performance gave
the ladies a perfect platform to build on and
captain Kotschack led by example by getting
her team off the mark. Whiteman took her
tally for the season to seven with two more
clinical finishes and another brace from
midfielder McGrath left the Trinity side five
to the good with twenty minutes remaining.
As the DIT players visibly began to tire, in
form midfielder Tyrell decided she wanted
to make her own mark on the game and
promptly set about scoring a fifteen minute
hat-trick, culminating with a sublime volley
from 25 yards out in the 87th minute.
Although their last game of 2008, against
Sallynoggin, may have ended in defeat there
is no doubt that this has been one of the most
successful terms of football in the history
of Trinity Ladies soccer. In the New Year
they have a quarter final with Tralee to look
forward to in the cup as well as a semi final
playoff date with Dundalk in the Leinster
League. The Ladies are confident they can
progress in both of these competitions and
both their coach and their captain were
bullish about their chances, claiming they can
beat any team on their day.
Kotshack’s
role
in
the
Ladies’
transformation cannot be understated. She
had a vision for where she wanted the team to
be since she took over the captaincy and she
believes that all of the girls on the team have
bought into it. “My goal was that there would
be at least 15 girls at every practice who love
the game and enjoy being on the team”, she
said. “I wanted the team to be a good social
group that got along both on and outside the
pitch. If we could win that was a bonus but I
wanted every player to be proud of being on
the team. Hopefully the girls agree that we
are quite close to that goal now…And we’re
winning too!”

Team members show off some early season silverware. Photo: DU Ladies Soccer

Bleak December for First XV

Christmas didn’t provide much in the way of cheer for the Trinity rugby team. Photo: Martin McKenna

While the rest of us were on holidays, the Trinity
rugby team was still soldiering on, albeit to little avail;
James O’Donnell reports on a bad patch for DUFC
ANY LINGERING vestiges of the euphoria
surrounding the Colours victory in November
were well and truly dispelled over the run-in
to Christmas, as DUFC endured a profoundly
disappointing three losses on the trot. Despite
having a settled team and few injuries to
contend with, Trinity picked up just two points
from their games and now sit a relatively
mediocre 11th place in the AIL Division 2 table.
Having dispatched Division 1 side UCD just a
couple of weeks previously, Trinity would have
had every right to be confident as they traveled
to Killballyowen Park on November 29th to
face Bruff, who played their rugby in Division
3 last year. A Colclough try from the set-piece,
and Tristan Goodbody’s try from nowhere, put
them 12-3 up and in the driving seat near the
end of the first half. But the impressive Co.

Limerick club had been sitting in second place
in the league at kick-off, and weren’t about to
let a bunch of upstart students put a spanner
in the works of their dream season. Aided by
the departure of Chris Jebb to the sin-bin, they
came back strong to come within a score at
halftime, and spurred on by their supporters
proceeded to turn the screw in the second half.
Despite a brave defensive effort by Trinity, they
were at the wrong end of a grandstand finish
this time around, as Bruff finally crossed the
whitewash to leave the First XV departing for
civilization with only a bonus point with which
to console themselves.
In a somewhat ominous sign, College Park
was a washout the next week, so the clash with
Wanderers had to be played at a neutral venue.
A poor performance against poor opposition led

to a frustrating afternoon; having gone ahead
through a try from the set-piece, Wanderers
never relinquished their advantage, and
another losing bonus point was the best Trinity
could do, Jebb kicking a penalty towards the
end to claw back to within seven points.
Trinity haven’t beaten UCC since dropping
back into Division 2 in 2006/07, and another trip
down the country on December 13th yielded no
more fruitful a return. There wasn’t even the
sniff of a bonus point in this last game before
the Christmas break; Gavin Dunne kicked the
representatives of the People’s Republic into a
12-3 halftime lead – Jebb being unable to match
him with the boot despite several opportunities
– and was the architect of a fine UCC try soon
after the interval. Trinity responded with a
converted try, but were unable to add to their
total before UCC punished further infractions
to record a 23-10 victory.
Memories of last year’s end of season slump,
during which the side lost seven league games
on the bounce, must surely be surfacing. The
first opportunity in 2009 for DUFC to halt their
slide comes this Saturday against Thomond.

Interview: Trinity
law graduate Ciara
Murphy talks to
Johnny Watterson
about her hockey
career

I STARTED playing hockey in Galway at six years of
age. Actually I’m still playing with Galway HC for
the Indoor European Championships, which are
on next month in Portugal. Galway are travelling as
Irish champions, and during the Christmas break I
have been training with them. But I’ll be going back
to Bruges this week and will continue to play with
Ghent.
When I went to Trinity to study Law and French
I initially began to play with Old Alexandra. But I
took a break in my second season to sit exams in
March and then in my third year I went to France
on Erasmus. I went to study political science in
Sciences Po, Paris.
When I was there I played for Stade Français.
I thought that we’d be able to get to some of the
club’s rugby matches but the hockey was based out
at a golf club at Haras in a suburb of Paris. It was
very different from hockey in Ireland.
It took an hour and a half to get to training, but
I got to play indoor hockey there too, which I really
enjoyed. However, it was a transitional team and we
didn’t have a good season. I’m enjoying Belgium
much more.
The challenge
in Paris was to
keep going
because of the
It was a most
travelling and
rewarding time,
sometimes I’d
great camaraderie, arrive and only
four others
great fun and a
would turn up.
That drove me
great coach
mad. But, in our
international
student
environment, the only French people I met was
through the hockey. My friend Emily Balbirnie
played for Racing Club. I then went back to Trinity
for final year and played with the college team. We
were able to get to the final of the Leinster Senior
Cup but lost out to Hermes.
After my final year at Trinity I chose a masters
course in European Law in the College of Europe
in Belgium. There is a second division club located
in Bruges but I had decided to take my car with me
this time and was able to make the hour-long drive
twice a week for training in Ghent.
There are about 300 of us in a tiny little campus
in Bruges and they now mostly know me as the
girl who plays hockey. It is a real trek to Ghent
but worth it for a serious club. We have two
Argentinean players on the team who are full time
professionals, while we get things like our petrol
paid for.
Once they heard I was a hockey player they
came looking and so far it has been really good.
They speak four languages at training, English,
French, Dutch - because it is a Flemmish region of
Belgium - and Spanish for the girls from Argentina.
The Dutch people in college laugh at me because
all I can say in Dutch is “run faster” and “dribble
left”, in a Belgian accent.
The coach is a guy called Pascal Kina, who was
the assistant coach for the Belgian men’s team
when they played in the last Olympic Games
in Beijing. The game is so well supported over
here and it gets three or four pages on a Monday
morning in the papers. The league is full of foreign
players from all over the world and you regularly
hear accents from New Zealand and Australia.
The main difference is it is very, very
professional. There is a lot more money in the sport
here. We have a full-time team coach and full-time
fitness coach. The team do three sessions a week,
although I only do two, but I do a lot of my physical
training in Bruges, where a group of us go running.
The main difference between Belgium and Paris is
that here there are a lot of kids playing and in Paris
there were very few. Here there are also a lot of
mixed clubs and clubhouses with a big community
feel.
There is no way I would like to be a full-time
professional. Hockey has always been something
that complements my travelling and studies, as an
aside to everything else. If it came down to it study
would have to come first. I played with the Irish A
side in Wales last August. I really enjoyed it and it
opened my eyes.
Your team-mates are your best friends as well
and if I look back now, playing for Trinity in my final
year would have been the most important year for
me.
It was a most rewarding time, great camaraderie,
great fun and a great coach (Fingal’s David Bane).
But wherever I go in the world, I always somehow
find myself back playing at Dangan in Galway
where I started out.
Reproduced with the kind
permission of The Irish Times

22

SPORT

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

2008/9 sport
scolarships
By Conor James McKinney
College Sport Editor
THE COLLEGE Sports Scholarships for
2008/09 were announced on December
9th at a ceremony in the Pavilion Bar. A
total of 25 awards were made to athletes
representing some 13 different sports.
Beneficiaries receive a grant as well as
being provided with extra support and
training from the Department of Sport.
Terry McAuley, head of the
department, who was at the helm, told
those present that supporting sport in
Trinity throws up unique challenges.
Unlike certain other universities, he
said, Trinity requires all students to go
through the CAO system and achieve
the points requirements for their course
regardless of their sporting ability.
Futher, those who are subsequently
recognised with a scholarship must
represent the College for their club.
Other Irish Universities which award
sporting scholarships, such as NUI
Maynooth, make similar stipulations,
while DCU requires a more vague
“appropriate level of commitment to
the DCU sports club” and a contribution
to “the administration, coaching,
promotion and development of the DCU
club”. UCD, which awarded 83 sport

scholarships in 2007/08, says that “the
scholarship student must represent
UCD and only UCD in competition”.
However, the example of rugby player
Rob Kearney, who plays for Leinster
and Ireland with such frequency that
he would rarely has time to tog out
for UCD in the AIL, would appear
to indicate that the rule is merely to
prevent scholars from competing
against UCD in competition, and not
to positively compell them to represent
their college.
Mr. McAuley also mentioned that the
College “tends to target [our] traditional,
strong sports” in order to “keep our
teams at the very highest level”, going
on to single out rugby, hockey and
rowing in that category.
While these three disciplines
accounted for 9 of the 25 scholarships
awarded, athletes from pursuits as
diverse as squash, volleyball and
orienteering were also recognised.
Pat Hickey, President of the both
the Olympic Council of Ireland and
the European Olympic Committees
(and a black belt in Judo), made the
presentation to the new sports scholars,
and was in turn given a DUCAC tie and
a copy of The Bold Collegians by the
author, Dr. Trevor West.

PAT HICKEY ON THIRD-LEVEL SPORT
“WE IN the OCI believe strongly that
succeeding in studies and having a
good balance between sport and
other important commitments in
life make a positive impact on the
sporting performance. So in order
to succeed in the complex world
of elite sports one needs to be
educated.
Fortunately the success is not
wanted at any price. In Ireland –
as well as in many other countries
– it is strongly recommended that
athletes’ academic progression
must not be unnecessarily sacrificed
to the needs of athletic performance
and success.
Therefore, during recent years

more and more attention has been
focused on athletes’ career planning
and education during their sports
career. It has been recognised
that athletes need comprehensive
support in order to succeed in
combining training with education
and other commitments in life.
The Irish Institute for Sport has
taken up this challenge on behalf of
Ireland’s sporting community and is
developing special education and
career programmes for third level
elite athletes. I know this work is
ongoing but hope that it will not be
affected by the current cutbacks in
government expenditure.”

Team
Fitzwilliam A
Fitzwillam B
Sutton A
Westwood A
Mt. Pleasant A
Curragh A
Old Belvedere A
Trinity A

LADIES SQUASH

P
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
6

Pts
95
88
83
83
67
60
51
10

14/01/09 Trinity A v Fitzwilliam A
21/01/09 Trinity A v Sutton A

Pos
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Team
Total Fitness
Trinity A
Westwood B
Mt. Pleasant A
Fitzwillam B
Aer Lingus A

P
8
8
8
8
8
8

Aoife Byrne (Postgraduate) – a
former full-time athlete, Byrne has
represented Ireland at European level
and is the current holder of the Irish
U23 record for the 800 metres. Has
getting to the London Olympics as
her next target while she studies for a
HDip in Education.
Cycling:
Melanie Spath (Postgraduate) – a
German PhD student, Spath has only
been mountain biking since 2006,
but has already won a clutch of Irish
competitions, including the Elite
Women’s K-Capital Cup and Elite
Women’s NPS, also took the British
National 100km Marathon. She
was judged “Most Awesome
Racer” of 2008 by her club,
Mountainbiking Association
of Dublin.

(SF Engineering) – last year’s Fresher
of the Year in the GAA club has
experience with St. Sylvester’s of
Malahide and Dublin U21s. This is his
second year to be awarded a sports
scholarship.
Paul O‘Neill (JF Engineering) – also
a full forward, the Kildare man plays
for Leixlip and Kildare minors. Also
looking to play senior inter-county
football in the future.
Therese McCafferty (SF Pharmacy) –
plays for Termon in far-flung Donegal.
Looking to win the Lynch Cup with
Trinity this year.
Hockey:
Maebh Horan (SF Medicine) – another
one in her second year of scholarship,
Horan came to Trinity with a glittering
underage career under her belt,
representing Ireland at all levels
to U18, and was nominated for the
U18 Player of the Year in 2005/06.
Qualified for the Leinster Senior Cup
Final with Trinity last year.
Caroline Murphy (SF Law)
– a native of Cork, Murphy

Camoige:
Rachel
Ruddy
(JS
Physiotherapy)
–
the
Ballyboden St. Enda’s
woman is also a
fixture for Dublin
at corner back,
and a 2008 AllStars nominee,
along
with
A n d r e a
Fitzpatrick,
in recognition
of
her
performances
last season.

14/01/09 Aer Lingus A v Trinity A
21/01/09 Trinity A v Fitzwillam B

rower boasts Leinster Schools Junior
and Senior Cup medals from his days
at Belvedere College SJ. Played for
Trinity U20s last year.

Craig Moore (SF MSISS) – another
graduate of Midleton College, Moore
was selected for Irish Universities in
2007. Has represented Munster at all
underage levels, and aims to make the
breakthrough into the senior squad.

Colm Moore (JF BESS) – the scrumhalf played for Ard Scoil Ris in his
schoolboy days, showing sufficient
promise to be called into the Munster
U16 and U19 squads. Captained
Shannon U18s and has appeared for
their senior squad.

Orienteering:
Niamh
O’Boyle
(Postgraduate)
– another repeat winner and an
exception to the norm of only awarding
scholarships in team sports. O’Boyle
has won intervarsities six years
running and represented Ireland at
the World University Championships
in Estonia in 2008.
Squash:
Sarah Corcoran (JF Pharmacy) – one
of the top female squash players in
the country, the Tipperary native is
an underage provincial champion
and came runner-up in the Irish U19
Championships in last year.
Rowing:
Eoin Mac Domhnaill (SS Engineering)
– a shade off 2 metres tall, Mac
Domhnaill has represented Trinity
in three Gannon Cup races
(winning two). Hopes eventually
to compete in the World Rowing
Championships and the 2012
games.
Sarah
Dolan
(JF
Engineering) – having
cut her teeth at the
Commercial Rowing
Club, Dolan has her
sights set on the World
U23 Championships.
Will compete in the
Corcoran Cup for
Trinity this year.
Iseult
Finn
(JF
Medicine) – has clearly
been marked out,
alongside her schoolmate Dolan, as the
future of the ladies’
boat club. The medical
student has previously
rowed for top clubs
Commercial
and
Neptune.
Rugby:
Caolan Doyle (JF
BESS) – the back
Craig Moore
accepts his award

Sailing:
Claudine Murphy (JS Engineering) – As
Mr. McAuley pointed out, Trinity has a
“big tradition in sailing”, and Murphy
was on the team that won the World
Student Yachting Championship in
2006, and was awarded a University
Pink for that achievement. She is
a beneficiary of the International
Carding Scheme, run by the Irish
Sports Council to support elite Irish
athletes.
Tuathal MacColgain (SF Law and
German) – again a repeat sport scholar
and ISC athlete, MacColgain is aiming
to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in
London.
Soccer:
Niall O’Carroll (SF Engineering) –
The Trinity goalkeeper started in the
Collingwood Cup while still a fresher,
and was selected for Irish Universities
last year. Hopes to play for Ireland
in the World University Games in
Belgrade this summer.
Evin O’Reilly (JS BESS) – also called
up for Ireland Universities last season,
midfielder O’Reilly is the captain of
DUAFC for 2008/09.
Christopher Allen (JS BESS) – the
former Man United trialist is having
a superb season for Trinity this year.
Former Home Farm man Allen is also
on the Ireland futsal (indoor soccer)
side, the only non-League of Ireland
member of the team.
Volleyball:
Fionnuala Nevin (JF Pharmacy) – a
new addition to Trinity’s team in what
Mr. McAuley described as an “up and
coming sport in Trinity”, Nevin has
played for the Ireland Junior team
and is looking to make the logical
progression to the U21 and senior
national sides.

LEINSTER DIVISION 2

MEN’S SOCCER

Pos
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Harry Murphy (SF BESS) – a fixture
on the U20s last year in the side that
reached the McCorry cup final, the
out-half also won a sports scholarship
in 2007/08.

MEN’S HOCKEY

ULTIMATE FRISBEE
Pts
83
76
60
60
53
35

has represented both Munster and
Ireland in age grade hockey, but
played for Leinster at U21 level. Also
won a scholarship in 2007/08.

Equestrian:
N i c o l a
FitzGibbon (JS
Engineering)
picked up the
Young
Rider
Trophy for her
performances
in the 2008
National Grand
Prix
League.
Currently
on
Erasmus at the
University
of
Lyon.

10/01/09

PREMIER DIVISION FIRST DIVISION
Pos
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Athletics:
Bryony Treston (JS Medicine) – Helped
Trinity to second place in the IUAA
Cross Country Championships in
March last year, and represented Irish
Universities at the Celtic International
Cross Country event later that month,
coming in runner-up again. Hopes to
be selected for the Senior Irish side and
win the Intervarsities with Trinity.

There’s no let-up for the First XI this week; following a brave
effort against Hermes, the ladies will face a similar calibre
of opposition at Santry on Saturday when they entertain
Loreto.
10/01/09
17/01/09

Hermes
Trinity College

2

v

0

Trinity College
Loreto

DU Sub-Aqua
given Branch
of the Year
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY SubAqua Club has won the inaugural
Branch of the Year award from
the sport’s governing body.
The British Sub-Aqua Club
(BSAC) has over 1,000 affiliated
branches in the UK and Ireland,
and gave the award based on
participating clubs’ diving,
training, recruitment, instructor
training and skill development
activities during the year.
As a reward for their efforts,
DU Sub-Aqua will now receive
five sets of diver starter kit,
worth over £4,500. They
were presented to the club by
sponsors Scubapro at the annual
Diving Officer’s Conference last
month,
Dublin University Sub-Aqua’s
Diving Officer, Padraig O’Flynn,
said he was delighted by the
news and that the new kit would
make a real difference.
“We will put the equipment
straight into club service. We’ve
had a big drive this year to
try and recruit more student
members... the new equipment
will go a long way towards
reducing costs for students by
avoiding the need for them to
buy their own equipment”.
The judging panel, led by
BSAC’s National Diving Officer
Sean Gribben, were impressed
by the response to the new
initiative and by the sheer
volume and standard of diving
activity being delivered.

SPORT
SP
PORT

TRINITY NEWS
January 13, 2009

Paul Shanahan

THE SCIENCE OF SPORT

Sport, college and the ESRI
At the severe risk of having too much fun for one
issue, Conor James McKinney takes a break
from Santry to examine the statistical links
between attending university and playing sport

W

HAT, YOU don’t play
sport in college? Strange.
Statistically, you’re much
more likely to if you’ve
managed to reach the
heady heights of a university education.
Research carried out by the Economic and
Social Research Institute (ESRI) shows that
among the four factors that are relevant in
determining whether or not someone plays
a sport is education. That age and gender
have an influence will come as no surprise;
it is however interesting, and worrying,
that the richer you are, the more likely you
are to tog out; those in the richest 25% of
the population are twice as likely to play as
the poorest quarter. Even more intriguing
is the influence of education: the crop of
sports participants, as it stood in 2006,
included only a quarter of those with no
Leaving Cert and half of those who had
only completed second level. Among third
level graduates, however, the figure stands
at an impressive 64% - meaning that
almost two thirds of people with a college
degree play some sort of sport.
This would appear, on first sight,
to dovetail with the income statistics,
given that third level graduates will
make more money than those without
such qualifications, and to indicate that
the increased leisure time that comes
with material comfort is a factor in
sporting participation. However, the
ESRI assures us that after subjecting the
data to “multivariate statistical analysis
[whatever that might mean]... two
distinct relationships can be discerned.
There is a general trend towards playing

more sport as the level of educational
attainment increases. Meanwhile, within
each category, those with a higher income
are also more likely to play sport... the
impacts of financial well-being and
educational attainment on playing sport
are substantially separate.”
Which means that education doesn’t
make you more sporty because it gives
you the time and money to participate -

they have more opportunities to develop
contacts, off-field skills, habits and fitness
that ensure a much more significant role
for sport in their future lives. Those who
leave education at a younger age miss out
on these contacts, opportunities and habits.
It is the time spent in the education system
rather than the qualifications gained that
produces the impact on sport.”
The figures are remarkable in their
linear progression: those who have primary
education are more likely to play than
those with none, those who have Junior
Cert are more likely to play than those with
primary education only, and so on, right
up to postgraduates being more sporty
than those with a plain old BA or BSc. This
is admittedly on a decidedly undemanding
definition for “playing sport”, reckoned as
physically participating in sport at some

The ESRI published its report entitled Fair Play?
Sport and Social Disadvantage in Ireland in March
2007. Authored by scientist and economist Dr. Pete
Lunn, the data for the report came from a survey of
3,080 adults carried out in late 2003, involving faceto-face interviews about their involvement in sport.
something else is at work to explain the
tendency of college graduates to keep
playing. Something, presumably, to do
with the range of sports on offer in our
third level institutions and the facilities
they provide, as well as being on of three
key social outlets - societies and class
groups being the other - that students
have. The ESRI report draws pretty much
this conclusion, albeit in fancier language:
“[At third level,] people establish
connections with adult sports clubs, make
contact with a wider range of alternative
sports they might explore, and are more
likely to maintain their fitness through
continuing to play. The result is that

time over the 12 months prior to survey.
The pattern is however the same when is
question is whether someone plays sport
regularly, or whether they have never
played a sport. Only 7% of postgrads fall
into the later category, for example, as
opposed to double that for people with
only a Leaving Cert, and 45% for those
with primary education only.
The upshot is that third level
graduates contribute 43% of all amateur
sportspeople despite being only 28% of
the population as whole - those who have
attained the Leaving Cert or below, 72% of
the population, make up the other 57% of
players. So there.

50.0

80

37.5

60

25.0
12.5
0
No education

THE FIGURES
THE STATISTICS below show the
percentages of (i) those who “play
sport” (ii) those living a “sedentary”
lifestyle within different catagories of
educational attainment.
The first measure is defined
as having physically participated
in a sport at least once over the
previous twelve months. For the
second measure, respondents were
asked whether they had been on
a recreational walk of greater than
two miles within the previous twelve
months. Respondents who had not
done so, nor played any sport, are
defined as “sedentary”.
There is a consistent correlation
between education and the likelihood
of playing sport (the first percentage)
and a similar but reversed relationship
with living a sedentary lifestyle (the
second percentage).
»
»
»
»
»
»
»

The same picture emerges among
those who said they had never played
sport in their lives:
» No education: 46%
» Primary only: 45%
» Junior Cert (or equivilant): 23%
» Leaving Cert: 15%
» Diploma/Cert: 10%
» Degree: 9%
» Postgraduate: 7%

Likelihood of playing a sport

Percent

Percent

Never played a sport in their lives

Sedentary lifestyle

40
20

Junior Cert

Diploma/cert

Postgrad

0
No education

Junior Cert

Diploma/cert

Postgrad

HOCKEY

Spirited display not quite enough
SCORE

HERMES
DULHC

2
0

By Conor James McKinney
College Sport Editor
THERE WEREN’T much grounds for
optimism as Trinity went out to face
a crack Hermes outfit at St. Andrews
on Saturday afternoon, a vicious and
unrelenting wind reminding all present
of the joys of winter sport in Ireland.
The home side had come out 5-1 victors
in a Jacqui Potter Cup match just
weeks before, and such was the quality
available to them that the best hope
seemed to be that the plentiful Hermes
Ireland A internationals didn’t want to
wear themselves out too much before
their midweek fixtures.
Happily, the ladies of DULHC
exhibited flagrant disregard for both
form and reputation in a pulsating first
half played at a frenetic pace, putting in
a strong performance to deny Hermes
the walk in the park that – with only a
single sub on the bench – they must
have been expecting.
Maebh Horan, pulling the strings in
midfield, and captain Claire Hearnden
in particular caught the eye with
committed displays. The two linked up
early down the right to put Hermes on
the defensive, before a pretty egregious
foot-block gave the champions a short
corner opportunity. Christine Boyle
was quick out of the blocks, however,

and managed to put the shooter under
enough pressure that her powerful shot
flew just wide.
Off the hook, Trinity set to work, and
aided by some Hermes rustiness (“too
much turkey in the belly”, groaned their
coach) were dominant for large periods
of the first half, stringing the passes
together and playing some excellent
hockey.
Although it was by no means all oneway traffic, it was evident that Hermes
were feeling more under pressure, as
two of their players were carded, and
despite Jessie Elliott needing to be on
her toes to make a great double save,
more half-chances came Trinity’s way. A
marvellous Hearnden run saw her evade
her marker to put in a fast cross that
Danielle Costigan was just about unable
to get on the end of, and it took a wellplaced Hermes defender to intercept
another ball bound for Katie O’Byrne,
unmarked in the circle.
For all that, they didn’t manage to get
in any shots on goal in that promising
spell. Rachel Scott’s skills were being
negated by a well-organised Hermes
midfield trio, and when one of them
was allowed too long to loiter between
25 and circle, Trinity conceded a free
which was quickly transformed into a
short corner. Thankfully, Hermes fell
foul of the umpires for crossing before
the shot was taken in another let-off.
Trinity came right back to create
what was probably, in retrospect, their
best chance of the game. The ball glided
from Small to Hearnden to Costigan,

2
3
23

whose precise shot from close range
was cleared off the line. Dave Bane’s
judgment that the champions were
“takeable” seemed more and more
justified as the game wore on and Trinity
held their own.
Ailbhe Coyle, making a rare start
at right back, was making the most of
her opportunity with a sound defensive
display in a backline that gave little away
in open play. Unfortunately a lapse in
concentration from Caroline Murphy as
she deliberated over a long ball led to a
short corner; Boyle, again hounding the
takers ferociously, paid the price with a
blow to the wrist that at least had the
effect of denying Hermes for the third
time. At the end of a half containing far
fewer unforced errors than in previous
outings, things were looking good.
Alas, Hermes came out strong in
the second half, created a number of
chances in the opening minutes. The
Trinity defence was equal to them at
first, but after Buckley had put in a
seemingly impossible tackle to prevent
a certain score, the ball was worked
across the circle and short corner No. 4
was awarded.
It had looked all along as if Hermes
were going to need something special
to get past Elliott and her defence, and
that something turned out to be luck;
the shortie was mis-hit badly and the
ball bobbled up, evading the on-rushing
defenders, and fell kindly for Aoife
Mitchell, who showed her appreciation
of Fate’s offering by sticking it away for
a demoralising goal.

A brief, retaliatory, Battle of the Bulge
style resurgence followed – Horan and
Hearnden again hard at work to win the
ball in good field position to set up halfchances – but eventually, as the game
opened up, tired legs and bruised spirits
took their toll. Under less pressure in
possession, Hermes were free to display
their admirable range of skills, and laid
siege to the Trinity goal for the final
20 or so minutes. Murphy broke up a
number of attacks single-handed; Boyle
send one dangerous ball just around
her own post; a borderline goal-mouth
melee was resolved by the umpires in
Trinity’s favour.
On the sideline, the inadequacy of
the second runner on the short corner
defence was adjudged to have been as
responsible for the first goal as bad luck,
and the problem wasn’t resolved in time
to prevent Hermes eventual second goal
being deflected in by former Trinity star
Linda Caulfield from the set-piece.
With less than ten to go, Trinity
didn’t give up – Nadia Douglas being
introduced to give the final effort some
vigour – but couldn’t find their way
into the opposition half, and rarely
threatened. The final whistle blew
through more defensive heroics from
Murphy and O’Byrne.
Although a loss, this was a far cry
from the tame capitualtions to Bray and
Glennane. Pride intact and with a good
performance under their belt, Trinity
will go into another tough fixture
against Loreto this Saturday with more
cause for optimism than despair.

THE
COMMENTARY
BOX
ANYONE WHO has digital television may have,
at some stage, stumbled across CNBC Europe
on a Sunday afternoon, when they have a slot
purely devoted to “executive sports”. There is
undoubtedly a special hell being made ready
for the person who devised this concept. It
embraces the likes of golf, tennis and sailing,
none of which are calculated to be of much
interest to such of the world’s population as
does not wear a suit, carry a briefcase and put
the world’s economy into the shredder every so
often. That, indeed, is their appeal to the elitists
of the world.
No doubt there are responsible adults out
there capable of playing tennis or golf outside
the confines of a snooty club, and without
thinking themselves to be a cut above the great
unwashed. Still, in this column’s view the world
would be a better place if they just played
something else (and cut down on their carbon
footprint a bit, but that’s not strictly the business
of the sports section). One regrettable statistic
is that most people who play sports in Ireland
do not play team
sports, despite
there’s a reason the huge media
coverage that is
why nobody
lavished on these
compared with
turns out to see as
individual pursuits.
the up-andAlthough at
secondary school
coming stars at
most participation
is in team games,
some track and
by the time
field meeting in people reach
adulthood they
Ballydehob
will have switched
to something like swimming, jogging, cycling
or one of the three mentioned above (which,
although they can be played in something
resembling a team, don’t generate the type of
common atmosphere found in soccer, rugby or
hurling). Around three quarters of adult sports
participation is done in this spirit of rugged
individualism.
Which is a pity, because at the risk of oversimplifying things, team sports are just better.
Even disregarding the eternally outrageous
notion of “executive sports”, in which the chaps
from Deloitte can put the top brass of Proctor
and Gamble through their paces before all retire
to the clubhouse bar for a well-earned brandy
and cigar, giving thanks that they don’t have to
tog out with the plebs on some ghastly soccer
pitch, everyone likes games that are played on
pitches and involves a decent level of running
around. That’s why they get far more coverage
and attract more fans (with the obvious and
inexplicable exception of golf) than do individual
games. Athletics, for example, gets its fifteen
minutes at every Olympic Games, and is one of
the great showpieces of that impressive event,
but there’s a reason
why nobody turns
out to see the upwhile the
and-coming stars
at some track and
individual athlete
field meeting in
Ballydehob. It’s not can learn only
interesting, it’s not
how to master
dramatic and you
don’t find yourself
themselves, the
wishing you had
captain of a team
that kind of talent.
And there’s a
must learn to
strong case to be
trust others, to
made that a team
sport is technically
better. If golf is skill delegate and to
without athleticism, lead
sprinting or
marathon running could be described as
athleticism without skill. By contrast, the broad
range of talent involved in running with the ball
at feet, giving the pass, going for the return,
controlling with the head or chest, playing
the through ball off the outside of the foot or
curling in a shot, well… there’s no comparison.
The same goes for rugby, Gaelic football and,
especially, hurling, the fastest field game in the
world and also surely one of the most technically
demanding. Boxing might be an exception to
this general rule, if one were to consider that
hitting people in the face is much to be proud of
in terms of sporting endeavour. I don’t.
The process of competing in a team sport also
teaches the virtues of cooperation, teamwork
and leadership. So while the individual athlete
can learn only how to master themselves, the
captain of a team must learn to trust others, to
delegate and to lead. In terms of the example
set by elite sportspeople, it is also surely more
worthy to honour the achievements of a group
of people working together than a solitary
victory. After all, in the real world, the only way to
accomplish anything is with the assistance and
cooperation of others. Even a star in a purely
solitary field such as sprinting must rely heavily
on a plethora of coaches, sports psychologists,
physios and nuitritionists. The increasing
tendency to fete particular sports stars, divorced
from the team around them, is largely a media
creation – it is simply easier to deal with and
analyse individuals, rather than superb teams.
So take heart; even the lowliest social team is
more worthy, on this viewpoint, than any number
of Olympic victories.

Douglas Alexander tangles with the Avoca attack as a depleted Trinity strive to keep their opponents at bay. Photo: Martin McKenna

U21s lose glamour fixture
Despite far better individual skills, an injuryhit Trinity hockey outfit prove unable to cope
with 11-man Avoca and miss out on chance for
silverware in Under-21 Cup
By Conor James McKinney
College Sport Editor
WITH THE vigour typical of students
on a Sunday morning, Trinity’s Under
21s strode out at a remarkably dark
and typically miserable Santry to
face Avoca in the First Round of the
U21 Cup. Captain Andrew Beverland,
himself rather the worse for wear, was
optimistic as he surveyed his side’s
desultery attempts at a warm-up. “We
have quality, they’ve got quantity”
was his verdict as his eight-man lineup took to the pitch against a more
regular number of opposition players,
whose pre-game routine was markedly
sharper. The Avoca coach was more
cautious than his numerical advantage
seemed to warrant, past heroics from
under-strength student outfits clearly
weighing heavily with him: “Trinity
seems to be able to play with seven and

still get a result”.
Unfortunately, the plucky Trinity
Eight were a goal down by the time
player number nine had arrived at
pitchside. Ginger goalkeeper Andy
Stevenson – as he was christened for the
day lest his side fall foul of age-related
technicalities – had warned his team
mates not to “expect any miracles in
goal”, and was duly beaten at his inside
post by a well-struck Avoca shot in a
bright opening for the away team.
The only chance Trinity were able
to create in the opening period fell
to Darragh Mangan, who miscued,
and Avoca were still revelling in the
space afforded them by their two-man
advantage. Good close control by an
Avoca forward led to a short corner,
but fresher Douglas Montgomery was
on hand to block. The ball was worked
back in to give them another bite at
the cherry only for the ball to come off

a stray Avoca foot in the circle; umpire
Dave Adley was quick to give a relieving
free to the home side.
Trinity were able to get into good
positions a few times in the first half
and play the ball into the circle, but
rarely had enough men forward to get
the vital touch. Their only short corner
opportunity of the half was fluffed – the
uncertainty as to their set-piece tactics
before kick-off possibly a factor – and
apart from a long-range effort from
Charlie Nairn the main threat was the
running of Hal Sutherland and Tolly
Humphreys out of midfield, where their
vastly superior stick skills were starting
to shine through. Beverland was close
to deflecting in a Sutherland cross on
around the twenty minute mark, making
the Avoca goalie work for the first time.
It was still easy for Avoca to play the
ball out of defence, however, despite
the tireless efforts of the undermanned
Trinity midfield. Another good run by
a white shirt down the left-hand side
won a short corner, which was tucked
away easily for 2-0. Scenting blood,
more pressure followed; a goalmouth
scramble went Trinity’s way, but they
were caught napping by a quick free on
the edge of the circle, which was deftly
angled in by a waiting forward to give

Avoca an imposing three-nil lead.
A lesser side might have given
up hope. But the halftime huddle
was anything but sombre, despite
Sutherland’s hacking and coughing
after a metronomic first half, the very
exemplar of one suffering for his art.
Those able to speak were undaunted,
discussing the amount of gaps to be
found in the Avoca defence – “let’s just
go get some goals” was the rallying cry
as Beverland led his troops back out to
the battlefield. They had some grounds
for optimism, if you were to listen to the
Avoca coach prowling the touchline,
who expressed the view that “it’s always
difficult when you’re playing against 8
or 9 guys” with an impressively straight
face.As if out to prove the truth of this
affront to common sense, Humphreys
came close to setting up Beverland
with a ball in from a free won himself,
but the Northerner was just unable to
connect. Avoca then figured out how
to overcome the handicap of being
two players up and struck again on the
break, a stretched Trinity defence easily
broken to leave the scorer with an easy
close-range finish.
Determined not to go down without
a fight, Trinity stepped up a gear. A
mazy run from Sutherland saw him

beat three men before winning a short
corner, which the Avoca keeper had
to get down low to save. The resulting
sideline ball was worked up the right
by Beverland, and Humphreys’ vicious
reverse was on target but again saved.
Another fruitless short corner followed,
but the partisan crowd could sense that
it was only a matter of time before the
breakthrough came. After Montgomery
had pulled off a huge defensive tackle,
the ball was worked upfield to Mangan
on the left, whose delayed pass to Louis
Jamieson allowed the forward to switch
it inside for Sutherland to dispatch the
ball coolly into the bottom right-hand
corner - fitting reward for a great day’s
work from the midfielder.
As the rain began to fall, Trinity
upped the work-rate yet again –
Jamieson’s relentless hounding of the
Avoca back four was a sight to behold
– and took a stanglehold on the game,
manufacturing a host of chances. A
long reverse from Sutherland and a
short corner attempt from Humphreys
were the highlights, but a combination
of bad luck and good goalkeeping kept
the students from adding to their tally
until late on.
A ball in from Montgomery took
the usual deflection in the circle, and

HAL SUTHERLAND
A TIRELESS performance from
the midfielder was duly rewarded
with two goals. Alongside
partner in crime Humphreys,
tormented the Avoca midfield
all day; at times, his dribbling
has to be seen to be believed.
Never gave up the fight and
deserves to be given a shot on
the first team this season.
Sutherland’s reflexes were the sharpest
when the ball came to ground. It was
too late too matter in terms of the
result, but cemented a brave effort
especially given the team’s litany of
disadvantages: neither fatigue nor
numerical disadvantage nor their
captain’s obvious need to vomit kept the
U21s from making the game a contest,
and playing some lovely hockey to boot
– honourable sportsmen all, showing
the true Trinity spirit. Long may it
continue!
More TN hockey coverage inside:
Ladies First XI in brave effort against
champions Hermes, p23; Ciara
Murphy interview, p 21.

SOCCER

Graduate XI no match for eager students
SCORE

TRINITY CORINTHIANS
DUAFC

1
2

By Niall Walsh
Soccer correspondent
DUAFC BEGAN the new year with
a promising win against the Trinity
Corinthians, themselves at the top of
their own respective league, the UCL
Premier Division. The Corinthians side
is made up of a collection of Trinity
graduates who all played for the college
soccer team during their time at
university. The college side began the
brighter of the two under the Santry
floodlights, creating plenty of chances
in a first half played at a frenetic pace.

Trinity striker Cormac Ryan was first
to try his luck, hammering a header
against the bar from 6 yards out after
a superb cross from full back Jonathan
Cummins and moments later his strike
partner Niall Walsh rattled the crossbar
with a thunderous drive from 20 yards
out. Danny Trimble and Conor Molloy
were keeping things tight at the other
end and Trinity almost went in front
just before the break. Walsh laid the ball
out to Cormac Farrell on the wing and
his pinpoint cross found fellow winger
Fergal Mullins in acres of space at the
back post. His first touch let him down,
however, and his close range strike flew
over the bar.
At half time managers Terry McAuley
and Jimmy Cummiskey changed things
around, bringing on a plethora of
substitutes and moving away from the

tradtional 4-4-2 set-up and back to the
diamond formation that has served
them so well this season.
The college quickly took control of
the game in the centre of the park and it
did not take long for the breakthrough
to come. Walsh raced through the
Graduate defense after a flicked through
ball by Chris Allen and smashed a first
time swerving left foot volley into the
top corner of the net.
Moments later Walsh could have
doubled his tally after a defensive mixup but his tame shot was cleared off the
line by a Graduate defender. They then
swept up the pitch on the counter attack
and after a missed header at the back
found themselves two on one, bearing
down on Trinity goalkeeper Michael
Schroll, and the German keeper was
helpless to prevent the a low shot from

squeezing under his body.
With the teams at level pegging, the
Trinity managers brought on some more
changes to freshen up the side and the
students rallied superbly, getting back
on top in the game by moving the ball
quickly around the center of the park.
Captain Danny Trimble urged his team
onwards and led by example at the back
with some crunching tackles at crucial
moments.
Trinity created chance after chance
but had to wait until the 75th minute
until they got their noses in front again.
A neat passage of play in Trinity’s
midfield led to substitute Ed Tinnsley
playing a peach of ball with the outside
of his left boot perfectly into teammate
Chris Allen’s stride. He ran directly at
the keeper, feinted left and right and
ended up walking the ball into the net

having successfully rounded him.
As the competitors trudged off the
frosty pitch at Santry, the players and
management will most definitely have
been encouraged by a determined
performance that belied the friendly
nature of the game.
Trinity followed up with a
comprehensive win over Loughshinny
United in the Leinster Senior League on
Saturday 11th. The students ran out 5-0
victors in an impressive performance;
two goals from Niall Walsh, along with
strikes from Ryan, Guerin and Lawler
sees Trinity sitting pretty at the top of
the league.
More TN soccer coverage inside:
Our correspondent examines the
recent success of the ladies soccer
team, page 21.